Police station torched and mosques on high alert after rioting spreads to Sunderland

An old police station was set on fire as far-right demonstrators took to the streets of Sunderland for another night of rioting following the Southport stabbings earlier this week.

Footage showed flames pouring from the reportedly disused Sunderland Central Police Office as a crowd of men, some wearing balaclavas, surrounded the building.

Northumbria Police said that its officers had been “subjected to serious violence”. They said that eight people had been arrested and three police officers were taken to hospital following the rioting in Sunderland city centre.

The force added: “The scenes that we are seeing are completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Ensuring the public’s safety is our utmost priority.”

Earlier, footage shared by Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, showed protesters breaking the windows of the building after throwing bins and other debris at the station.

Police had beer barrels thrown at them as they tried to contain the several hundred protesters, who shouted: “Whose streets? Our streets.”

Train and bus services were halted and the Sunderland rail station was shut after 10pm, the Tyne and Wear Metro operator Nexus said.

The Omniplex cinema was forced to shut during the incident in the "interest of public and staff safety".

Chief Superintendent Helena Barron, who led the policing operation, said: “Eight people have so far been arrested for a range of offences, including violent disorder and burglary. A full investigation is now under way to identify anyone else responsible.

“The shocking scenes we have witnessed in Sunderland this evening are completely unacceptable. I want to make it absolutely clear that the disorder, violence and damage which has occurred will not be tolerated.”

Education secretary and Sunderland MP Bridget Phillipson condemned the unrest in the city as “unforgivable violence and thuggery”.

She said: “The criminals involved in this appalling disorder must be identified, prosecuted, and punished with the full force of the law.

“Sunderland is better than this and these thugs do not represent our city.”

Sunderland AFC on X said Friday’s “shameful scenes do not represent our culture, our history, or our people.

“Our great city is built on togetherness and acceptance, and Sunderland will forever be for all. We are stronger as one community.”

The disorder on Friday started at Sunderland’s newly refurbished Keel Square where the demonstration – called Enough Is Enough – began.

As a helicopter flew overhead, young men threw stones at the police and chanted, “Whose streets? Our streets”.

There was a stand-off between police and protesters outside a mosque on Sunderland’s St Mark’s Road.

Some protesters argued about “two-tier policing” as the police threw a protective ring around the mosque. Mounted police pushed back demonstrators, some of whom were wearing masks.

Members of the crowd chanted in support of Tommy Robinson, and others shouted insults about Islam.

Mosques across England are on a heightened state of alert to be “careful and cautious”, the Muslim Council of Britain said.

Sunderland Central MP Lewis Atkinson described the violence as “criminal thuggery”.

In a post on X, he said: “I am appalled by the disorder in the centre of Sunderland tonight. Our city is not represented by a tiny minority causing trouble.

“Northumbria Police have my full support as they respond to criminal thuggery and work to protect all the communities of our city.

“Tomorrow the people of Sunderland will come together and continue to build the bright future that we have – a future where every community of our city feels safe and prospers.”

Prime minister Keir Starmer has put police forces on an emergency footing as more far-right protests are planned over the weekend. At least 35 demonstrations have been advertised online, many posts containing phrases such as “enough is enough” or “save our kids”.

They follow misinformation on social media about the attack on Monday in Southport, in which Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, died.

Axel Rudakubana, 17, has been charged with the murders of the three girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.

Sir Keir made a second visit to Southport since the murders. “As a nation, we stand with those who tragically have lost loved ones in the heinous attack in Southport, which ripped through the very fabric of this community and left us all in shock,” he said in a statement.

Elsewhere on Friday, a crowd of about 200 anti-racist protesters gathered outside the Abdullah Quilliam Mosque in Liverpool after rumours of a far-right protest there.

A small scuffle later broke out between protesters as one crossed West Derby Road towards demonstrators protecting the Abdullah Quilliam Society mosque and police moved in.

Those outside the mosque chanted: “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here.”

One man, among a small group on the opposite side of the road, replied: “Are they f***!”