Several shops across the UK were ransacked, burnt or damaged by far-right extremists as the violent riots in the country escalated on Sunday, leading Prime Minister Keir Starmer to issue a stark warning to violent rioters targeting people because of their skin colour.

The riots, termed as the country's most severe unrest in over a decade, stemmed from anti-immigration sentiments, which erupted after misinformation about a mass stabbing incident in which three young girls were killed in Southport earlier this week.

Several shops across the country were burnt or ransacked, with smashed windows and broken doors, according to the Daily Mail.

In one of such instances, photos and videos on the social media showed rioters looting from Lush, a cosmetics store in Hull, after breaking open its doors and shattering windows.

Several other shops were ransacked in the city, including a Shoe Zone store and a Specsavers. Several videos on social media showed shops in Hull city centre being looted and being set on fire.

A cafe in Belfast was set on fire during the anti-immigration protests in the city, Daily Mail reported.

The street cleaning teams in Hull have been deployed to clean up the city after the damage caused by the rioters, after getting a clearance from the police.

A large group of far-right protesters, with many draped in British flags and chanting nationalist slogans, stood in front of the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Rotherham, where a significant number of asylum seekers are accommodated. After some time, they began throwing projectiles at police, smashing windows, and eventually entered the building and set it ablaze.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned that "far-right thugs" would "regret" their actions and face the "full force of the law", following the incident. He pledged to those feeling frightened about being targeted because of their race or religion that "this violent mob do not represent our country and we will bring them to justice".

Source: India Today