Scuffles broke out in London on Saturday between far-Right activists, Black Lives Matter protesters and police trying to keep the two sides apart.

By 5pm, Trafalgar Square was already the scene of pitched battles which the home secretary called “unacceptable thuggery”.

One white man, believed to be from a far-Right group, “was beaten to a bloody pulp”, eye witnesses said.

The pro-statue rally included veterans dressed in military uniform.

Smoke bombs exploded in Trafalgar Square, which first swelled with flag-waving far-Right supporters before they were driven out by police and the square was occupied by anti-racist and BLM activists, who marched from Hyde Park.

Carnage still erupted in the heart of London as far-Right supporters peeled off from their rally in Parliament Square and began pelting cans and bottles at the police blockading the Cenotaph.

It sparked a wave of frenzied violence which saw both Black Lives Matter and far-Right hooligans caught on camera deliberately targeting constables. Skirmishes were seen breaking out between the two groups and both sides have been prowling through central London looking for violence.

In Trafalgar Square and surrounding avenues, small bands of protesters jostled, tossed bottles and cans and set off fireworks as riot police with dogs and horses lined up.

Far-Right groups shouted racial slurs at the anti-racism protesters, and some tried to use metal crash barriers to break through police lines.

“It is clear that far-Right groups are causing violence and disorder in central London, I urge people to stay away,” London mayor Sadiq Khan said on Twitter.

Home secretary Priti Patel denounced “thoroughly unacceptable thuggery” and said any perpetrators of violence or vandalism would face the full force of the law.

Statues of historical figures including Winston Churchill were boarded up ahead of time to prevent them from becoming flashpoints or from being defaced by protesters who say such monuments celebrate racists.

There have been demonstrations around the world against racism and police abuses since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month. In British cities tens of thousands of people have marched peacefully during previous days of protest.

In London the numbers of demonstrators were smaller on Saturday than in recent days, after announcements by far-Right groups that they would converge on the city centre prompted anti-racism activists to cancel a planned march and instead call for scattered protests.

Hundreds attended rallies in other English cities, many donning masks because of the coronavirus outbreak and carrying placards with slogans such as “To Be Black Is Not A Crime”.

In and around London’s Parliament Square, hundreds of people wearing football shirts, describing themselves as patriots and chanting “England, England” gathered alongside military veterans to guard the Cenotaph war memorial.