WATCH: Anti-immigration protest sparked by Southport killings blocks M275 near UK Border Agency in Portsmouth

Protestors clustered together at the Shell Garage in Kettering Terrace - near Portsmouth International Port - at 8pm this evening. Counter-demonstrator groups formed with police keeping the two parties separate.

A Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary spokeswoman said: “The M275 northbound was blocked by a group of attendees for a short time, however officers engaged with them and they moved a short time later.” Roughly 100 individuals, many of them holding union jacks, faced the counter protestors and spoke amongst themselves. Counter demonstrators, some of them in hoods and face coverings, were held by police on the pavement before Kettering Terrace.

Cries of “stop the boats” were heard, alongside other more abhorrent and racial slurs from isolated members of the crowd. One protestor with a megaphone exclaimed: “Save our kids”! People ranged from between 16 to those in their 50s, some in hoods and face coverings with others wearing casual clothes - with a mix of men and women. Some motorists beeped at them in a sign of solidarity, while others swore at them in disgust.

Small groups then walked onto the M275 northbound and held a union jack in the middle of the road, disrupting traffic. Demonstrators then moved onto the other side of the motorway, with some having verbal exchanges with officers but no physical contact. Three more police vans and other units arrived at the scene, forcing the individuals back onto Kettering Terrace - with more racial slurs being shouted. One individual tried to drape a flag over a police officer.

Pockets of counter demonstrators got close to the group, shouting that they were “racists”. As of 9.15pm, a police spokeswoman said: “No arrests have been made in Portsmouth at the current time.”

Riots broke out in several major UK cities this week which were sparked by the death of three children in Southport, Merseyside, on July 29. Misinformation spread online that the offender was a Muslim refugee who had came to the UK on a migrant boat. The first of the offenders arrested nationally as part of the disorder have been jailed.

More to follow...