HUNDREDS of protesters took to the streets last night to demonstrate against Donald Trump’s trip to the UK.

Brighton Antifascists organised a mass demonstration and march to coincide with the US president’s arrival at Stansted Airport for a four-day visit.

More than 300 people gathered at Brighton Town Hall where they listened to speeches, including condemnation of Trump’s “transphobic views and fascism”.

They then sang and chanted as they set off through the streets, many waving protest banners.

The demonstration made its way up North Street and Queen’s Road to Brighton Station then turned down Trafalgar Street and along London Road.

Chants of “Brighton united, we’ll never be defeated” and “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here” rang out on the streets, reminiscent of protests in the city in January last year.

Another more explicit chant from last year’s protest was abandoned after people aired their concern at the start of the protest.

Brighton Antifascists’ spokesman Andrew Beckett said: “We just wanted to give everyone in Brighton a space to come together and express their anger at Trump on the day he arrives.

“We wanted a place to show solidarity with all those who suffer from Trump’s policies – women, trans people, migrants, people of colour, muslims and the ecology of the planet.”

Protester Sophie Holgate, 25, said it was important to demonstrate.

She said: “I think the fact that it is not a state visit but is being called a work trip is good but it does seem like a state visit in that he is meeting the Queen and there are a lot of things happening to make him feel welcome.

“I think we have to come out today, not just to say that we think what he is doing isn’t right, but to show the people that he is persecuting that we stand with them.”

Sadhbh Moriarity, 24, who also joined the march, said: “Obviously the right to protest peacefully is fundamental and we need that. Protesting against Trump now is very important to get our voices heard and also to show solidarity to people in America who are feeling the same way but are actually stuck with him.”

Cindy Jewell, 69, said: “It means a lot to be able to protest today. I am free to do this. I can’t stand the man and I can’t stand anything he stands for. I think he is completely the wrong person to be leading America and I feel I have got to say something.”

A spokeswoman for activist group Sisters Uncut made a speech to the crow, declaring: “We are fighting for our lives.”

She urged people to “stand together and concentrate on dismantling Trump’s policies”.

Helen Ledger, 63, a Quaker from Brighton, said she was opposed to Trump’s policies, including his stance on global warming.

She said: “He considers people animals almost. He doesn’t represent a world I want to be part of.”

Christine Grace, 57, of Brighton said: “It’s the way he encourages divisiveness and hatred and legitimises it. He has every right to visit here and we have every right to protest it. This is not a student protest, this is not an unemployed protest, this is everyone.”

Claire Chateauneuf, 18, from Vancouver, Canada, was in Brighton visiting family. She said: “It’s unbelievable, it’s unreal that he got into office. It’s ridiculous and it shouldn’t be happening in 2018. One hundred per cent that’s a view shared by most Canadians.”

Veronica Heney, 25, a masters student studying gender studies at the University of Sussex, said: “It’s really important we stand as a community against both what Trump represents and what is represented in the current Government in the UK.

“Refugees and migrants are treated terribly and his policies are cutting funding to those who offer refuge from domestic violence and have cut support for disabled people.”

Mathew McConkey, 24, from Brighton said: “The UK is trying to believe that because of Brexit and the special relationship with the US, its relationship with that nation needs to be salvaged from an economic point of view.

“But people’s human rights are not to be gambled with.”

Police accompanied the march but it passed off peacefully.

The president will be dining at Bleinheim Palace, talking with Theresa May at Chequers and meeting the Queen at Windsor before travelling to Scotland where he owns a golf course. He will stay away from London as much as possible to avoid protests, with a large demonstration planned there today.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has urged people not to break the law, saying anti-Trump protests should be peaceful and good spirited.

l Go to theargus.co.uk to see a video of the Brighton protest