Far-right demonstrations that had been anticipated by police in dozens of locations across Britain failed to materialise on Wednesday as peaceful anti-racism protesters instead showed up in force.
Police had prepared for another night of violence at 100 locations following a week of rioting and disorder fuelled by misinformation over a stabbing attack against young girls. Many businesses had boarded up windows and closed down in fear of what lay ahead.
Stand up to Racism and other groups had planned counter-protests in response, but in most places they reclaimed their streets with nothing to oppose.
In London, Bristol, Oxford, Liverpool and Birmingham, large, peaceful crowds gathered outside agencies and law firms specialising in immigration that had been listed by internet chat groups as possible targets of far-right activity.
In resounding choruses they chanted: "Whose streets? Our streets!"
It was a vast change from the chaos that has erupted on streets throughout England and Belfast, Northern Ireland, since July 30. Cities and towns have been wracked by riots and looting for the past week as angry mobs, encouraged by far-right extremists, clashed with police and counter-demonstrators.
The head of London's Metropolitan Police Service, Sir Mark Rowley, said that officers were focused on protecting immigration lawyers and services. In addition to thousands of officers already deployed, about 1300 specialist forces were on standby in case of serious trouble in London.
By early late Wednesday, though, with the exception of scattered disturbances and some arrests, trouble had not erupted.
This boy in the north-eastern English city of Newcastle even found the time to try on a police helmet after he delivered bottles of waters to police.
In Liverpool, hundreds showed up to defend the Asylum Link immigration center. A grandmother held a placard reading "Nans Against Nazis" and someone else held a sign saying, "When the poor blame the poor only the rich win."
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has described the previous disturbances as "far-right thuggery," rejecting any suggestion that the riots were about the government's immigration policies
Police across northern England clashed with right wing protesters in fresh violence sparked by misinformation spread on social media after the murders of three girls in Southport, Lancashire, last week.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer strongly condemned the violence, describing it as "far-right thuggery."
The rioting was particularly acute in the north of England town of Rotherham where police struggled to hold back hundreds of rioters who sought to break into a Holiday Inn Express hotel being used as accommodation for asylum-seekers.
Before bringing the riot under some sort of control, police officers with shields had faced a barrage of missiles, including bits of wood, chairs and fire extinguishers.
A large bin close to a window of the hotel was also set alight but the small fire was extinguished. South Yorkshire Police, which is responsible for Rotherham, said at least 10 officers have been injured, including one who was left unconscious.
Far-right agitators have sought to take advantage of last week's stabbing attack by tapping into concerns about the scale of immigration in the UK, in particular the tens of thousands of migrants arriving in small boats from France across the English Channel.
One protester used a fire extinguisher on police officers during the Rotherham rioting.
South Yorkshire police pledged to bring those responsible for the violence to justice.
"We have officers working hard, reviewing the considerable online imagery and footage of those involved, and they should expect us to be at their doors very soon," said
Tensions were also running high in the north-western English city of Manchester.
There were scuffles with police and at least two arrests, the BBC reports.
Violence also erupted in Northern Ireland during anti-Islamic protests in the city of Belfast.
Missiles were thrown by demonstrators, police were attacked and a cafe was set on fire in the city.
More than 100 people have been arrested in a protest in central London following an alleged fatal knife attack and subsequent riot in the English town of Southport, the city's Metropolitan Police has said.
Demonstrators fired up by anger and misinformation about the attack clashed with police near the Prime Minister Keir Starmer's residence in London in Downing Street on Wednesday evening (Thursday AEST).
The mayhem in London was ostensibly in response to Monday's alleged stabbing attack in Southport, northwest England, on children attending a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance and yoga class.
About two dozen children were attending the Taylor Swift-themed summer vacation workshop on Monday when a teenager allegedly attacked them with a knife. Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven died from their injuries.
Police say they have charged a 17-year-old with three counts of murder over the attack.
Police said officers were deployed in central London to "ensure disorder was contained" but added that some "suffered minor injuries".