15 photos of police separating rival UKIP and anti-fascist protesters in Sheffield city centre

The rival protests came within yards of each other at Lady’s Bridge on the Wicker.

Tensions rose and the mood turned ugly as they hurled insults at each other.

But cops - including from Durham and Manchester - formed an impenetrable line that kept them apart.

Protesters were then kettled on adjacent streets - Blonk Street and Castlegate - and kept separate by a strongly-guarded ‘sterile zone’ through which no one could pass.

One person was seen being led away in handcuffs on the Wicker and police said seven people were arrested including a woman aged 38, for actual bodily harm, and a man, 39, for affray.

Four men, aged 54, 39, 33 and 23, and a 34-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of breaching the legal conditions police imposed to ensure public safety under Sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.

As the afternoon wore on, protesters were demanding to be set free and police let the UKIP group go first, at about 3.30pm.

The UKIP anti-immigration protest started in Tudor Square while the anti-fascist organisations set off from the Cathedral.

A South Yorkshire Police said officers aimed to prevent crime and disorder and provide an “effective, lawful and proportionate response.”