Three arrested after violence outside British asylum seeker hotel

LONDON (Reuters) - British police arrested three people late on Friday after a protest outside a hotel providing refuge to asylum seekers turned violent.

Demonstrators threw missiles towards police officers and damaged a police vehicle following an initially peaceful protest and counter-protest in Knowsley near Liverpool in north-west England, police said.

Footage from social media showed a police van set on fire and hundreds gathered at the site of the protests.

"We will always respect the right to protest when these are peaceful, but the scenes tonight were completely unacceptable, putting those present, our officers and the wider community in danger," Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Paul White said.

"We have not had any serious injuries reported up to this point, but for officers and police vehicles to be damaged in the course of their duty protecting the public is disgraceful."

Knowsley Council, the local government authority in the area, said the protests happened outside a hotel housing asylum seekers since January last year.

As the number of migrants crossing the English Channel to reach Britain rises, the government has been using hotels across the country as temporary accommodation while it processes their applications for asylum.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made cracking down on illegal migration one of his priorities, with the government planning new legislation to address the issue.