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Multiple men pictured with a St George’s Cross flag next to a crate of cider had to be moved on ahead of a vigil for the victims of the Southport attacks, witnesses in the area said.
Locals on Merseyside are rallying together today after right-wing rioters marred a night of remembrance for three murdered children.
Dozens of residents were outside Southport mosque with brushes and shovels on Wednesday morning, after violent protests that saw bricks, stones and bottles thrown at police and cars set alight.
Norman Wallis, chief executive of Southport Pleasureland, said people had travelled from out of town to wreak havoc, leaving locals to clean up the mess.
Mr Wallis, who was helping at the junction of Sussex Road and St Luke’s Road on Wednesday, said volunteers joined the clean-up partly in response to a social media plea he put out after witnessing the violence on Tuesday evening.
He added: “It’s horrendous what those hooligans have done last night.
“It was like a war scene. People from out of town just causing absolute mayhem.
“People in hoods climbing up lampposts, throwing bricks, they set a police car on fire.
“But none of those people were the people of Southport. The people of Southport are the ones here today cleaning the mess up.
“Those people from out of town – they came in in buses and cars and had a change of clothes. They just started to riot and do this.”
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