Riot police should stay on high alert, says Keir Starmer

Police had expected more than 100 events on Wednesday night, with 30 counter-demonstrations planned, but most of these did not materialise and those that did were largely peaceful.

Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, one of the UK’s most senior police officers, stressed there was no room for complacency as “many potential events are still being advertised and circulated online”.

Almost 6,000 extra public order officers that were mobilised earlier in the week remain in place.

Tough sentences will continue with maximum publicity, to try to deter future violence, the BBC understands.

On Thursday, judges in Liverpool, Plymouth and Teesside, among other towns and cities, handed down sentences for violent disorder. There were 21 convictions on Thursday alone.

So far, 149 charges have been brought with police expecting the number to “rise significantly” as suspects are fast-tracked to appear in court.

More than 500 people have been arrested, and more than a quarter of those who have been charged are under the age of 21, the latest statistics show.

Among those sentenced so far, include:

Thousands of anti-racism protesters have also rallied in cities and towns across England – in some cases clashing with groups of the far-right.

In Walthamstow, video emerged online appearing to show a now-suspended Labour councillor telling a crowd that far-right demonstrators needed to have their throats cut.

On Thursday Ricky Jones was arrested on suspicion of encouraging murder.

The spate of violence is the worst the UK has experienced since 2011, when riots between 6 and 11 August across England saw looting and arson, as well as mass deployment of police and the deaths of five people.