Protesters hold up anti-racism banners on the streets of Britain. (Source: AP)

Most of the far-right protests expected to involve more than 100 people did not take place after the British government deployed the largest police force since the 2011 riots to maintain order.

Large numbers of protesters holding anti-racism banners took to the streets in several cities and towns, including London, Bristol, Brighton, Birmingham, Liverpool, Hastings and Walthamstow.

The unrest in the UK over the past week has been sparked by false information spread on social media about the identity and religion of the suspect who murdered three girls and injured 10 others in a stabbing attack in the town of Southport, northwest England on July 29.

The suspect, Axel Muganwa Rudakuban, 17, who was arrested after the attack, was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Rwandan parents who came to Britain in 2002, and lived in the village of Banks, about 10km from Southport.

However, within hours of the attack, social media was flooded with false rumours that the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker who had come to the UK illegally by boat and was on a terrorist watch list.