Middlesbrough Hollow words about the children.Then the violence began

Incredibly, it began with a two minute silence for the victims of the Southport knife attack.

- Mark Brown

What followed was angry, often racist and mindless violence with front windows of homes smashed in, cars torched, residents terrified and police repeatedly attacked with missiles.

Middlesborough resembled a battle zone yesterday afternoon, the latest place to be chosen as a venue for far-right led violence.

About 300 people gathered at Middlesbrough's historic cenotaph at the gates to Albert Park at 2pm. They had been encouraged to turn up by posts on social media.

A striking number were men and women in their 50s and 60s. "We're fucking angry," said one woman in her 60s. "I know we're only plebs from a poor town." Another shouted: "This is our way of life that's at stake." One elderly couple took time to go and admire the Brian Clough statue in the park before returning to find somewhere to sit.

Shortly before 2pm, a large group of younger, masked men walked up to the cenotaph. Things began to feel more sinister and scary.

A man in a blue T-shirt, an organiser, couldn't get his megaphone to work so yelled instead that it was a protest not about race or religion, but about the children who were killed.

By the end, they seemed like hollow words.