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Police have arrested left-wing protesters after they defied a police ban and tried to confront attendees of a UKIP demonstration in central London. Four activists, believed to be supporters of campaign group Stand Up To Racism, were seen being detained by Met Police officers in the Hyde Park Corner area on Saturday afternoon. It comes after the Met imposed restrictions on the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) demonstration, banning supporters from entering the borough of Tower Hamlets in a bid to prevent 'serious disorder'. Counter-protesters were told they must continue their protest as planned in Whitechapel and not enter areas of central London where the UKIP march would be taking place. Around 75 UKIP activists gathered outside the London Oratory, a Catholic church in Kensington, at 1pm, before a march towards Marble Arch. Many held Union Jack flags, crosses and signs reading 'Islamist invaders not welcome in Britain'. The Met imposed Public Order Act conditions preventing them from holding the protest anywhere in the borough of Tower Hamlets on Tuesday. Previously, the force banned the demonstration from its planned site in Whitechapel, an area with a large Muslim population, with officers saying there was 'realistic prospect of serious disorder'. The march is part of a series of events taking place across the UK which were promoted as a 'mass deportations tour', with organisers calling on attendees to 'reclaim Whitechapel from the Islamists', UKIP's X profile said. A counter-protest, organised by Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) and other local groups, amassed from 12pm in Whitechapel, east London. Police have restricted SUTR, who are scheduled to meet in Stratford Station, from gathering in an area of the city including where the UKIP protest will take place, including Hyde Park Corner. After several activist defied the ban and turned up along the route of UKIP's proposed march, they were arrested by the Met. A spokesperson for the force said: 'Four counter protesters who appeared along the route in breach of the conditions in place and refused to leave have been arrested.' UKIP leader, Nick Marcel Tenoni said this week on X: 'We will confront the communists at Hyde Park Corner. 'We will march to Marble Arch and I will give my historic address with the communists and Islamists flaying in the background outraged that we have once and for all finally stood up to them. 'They will be met with Christian courage and it will be glorious. Patriots, this is just the beginning. Saturday the 25th of October (tomorrow). The Crusade begins. Commander Nick John, who is in charge of public order policing in London this weekend, said: 'Our role in relation to the policing of protest is to ensure that they take place peacefully, that offences are dealt with, that they do not cause excessive disruption to the ordinary lives of local residents, visitors and businesses and to ensure that where there is a prospect of disorder we take action to prevent it. 'The risk of such disorder can be elevated if groups with clearly opposing views are allowed to gather in close proximity to each other, particularly if they do so in the heart of a residential area at a time when tensions and fears in relation to hate crime and similar offences are heightened. 'We intervened earlier this week to use our powers under the Public Order Act to prevent a protest taking place in Whitechapel due to the prospect of serious disorder. 'This was not a "ban" as it has been described in some coverage and commentary, but a requirement for the protest to move if it was to go ahead. 'We have used the same power on many occasions over the past two years when policing demonstrations by various groups.' Public Order Act conditions also ban members of the UKIP march from protesting before 1pm or after 4.30pm. Mr John urged people planning to attend either protest to familiarise themselves with the conditions, warning that anyone breaching them, or encouraging others to do so, could be arrested. Elsewhere, the Jewish community welcomed the news of the march restrictions. Demonstrations previously broke out in Whitechapel in what is now known as the Battle of Cable Street in 1939. Local jews, communists, trade unionists and anti-fascist protesters banded together to face off against fascism.
