Police Set to Deploy 3,000 Riot Officers at Far-Right Protests

Three thousand riot officers will be deployed and placed on standby amid concerns a string of anti-asylum-seeker protests and counter-protests this weekend could lead to violence and disorder.

- Vikram Dodd Ben Quinn Robyn Vinter

Police commanders at a national level have made the decision. It is the first time since last summer's riots that there has been a mass and national standing up of specialist public order officers.

Some of the extra riot officers will be deployed on the streets, equipped with helmets and shields to act as a deterrent. Others will be held in reserve and all will be on standby to be rushed across England and Wales to "hotspots" of violence and rising tension, a police source with knowledge of the planning said.

The same source stressed there was no specific intelligence of violence, but 800 extra riot officers were ordered to be deployed yesterday, on top of the 2,200 planned already.

At least 20 protests targeting hotels used by the government to house asylum seekers are thought possible this weekend, with each one in turn potentially attracting a counter-protest.

One senior officer in an area expecting protest said: "It is impossible to tell what you are going to get. Within crowds you can get different factions, concerned locals, bystanders, extremists."