BRIGHTON beachgoers came to the aid of two “refugees” who had rowed on to the city’s shore only to be confronted by an angry onlooker.

The heated dispute was staged by video pranksters Trollstation and has been viewed more than 180,000 times in a matter of days.

It was later revealed the two supposed refugees were in fact actors - as was the man who confronted them.

The group has described the stunt as a social experiment to see how beachgoers would react to the situation.

It is the latest in a long line of pranks by the controversial group some of whom have been jailed for their antics.

The group as also responsible for a terrifying “heist” at the National Portrait Gallery and a bomb hoax in London – a judge has labelled the group’s humour as “warped”.

In their latest prank, two of the group posed as refugees who had rowed across The Channel in a dinghy.

An onlooker on the beach, also an actor, reacted with fury to the scene, grabbing hold of the “refugees” dinghy and then grabbing them while telling them they are not allowed in.

He calls on others to help "keep the foreigners out" but Brighton beachgoers instead encouraged the pair to come ashore and ask the man to leave them alone.

The group of onlookers try to get between him and the two refugee actors while another by-stander pushes him in the chest and calls him “heartless”.

Richard Williams, chairman of Brighton refugee charity Sanctuary on Sea, said: "I think with these things its all about context and the context here is that for every 23 people crossing the Mediterranean, one person has died.

"This weekend a boy died in Calais who had a right to be in the UK but the Government was so slow processing his claim.

"That is the context to what some people might describe as just a bit of fun.

"But it is good to see that, as we know of Brighton already, that it is a tolerant place that will not have anything to do with the attitudes that actor was displaying."