Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of “supporting genocide” by hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters who barracked his constituency offices on Saturday.

Around 500 activists holding banners shouted: “Keir Starmer you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide”, after marching from outside Chalk Farm station in north London.

There were also chants of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “Free, free Palestine”, as the protest made its way towards the Labour leader’s offices under the close eye of police officers.

Passers-by beeped car horns in support of the marchers, who were kept back from the constituency offices by police barriers.

It came as hundreds of people staged protests in towns and cities across Britain on Saturday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Around 100 pro-Palestinian rallies were held at locations around the UK, including Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Plymouth and Stevenage.

In London, there were 10 rallies held in boroughs across the capital, including Islington, Redbridge, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets.

Many of the protests targeted Labour MPs who had voted against or abstained in the vote last week on the SNP amendment to the King’s Speech calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

In Birmingham, pro-Palestinian activists barracked the offices of Labour MP Shabana Mahmood, who abstained. Here they chanted accusations of supporting genocide against Sir Keir. There were also protests outside the office of Harrow East’s Conservative MP, Bob Blackman, who voted against a ceasefire call.

The localised demonstrations were held instead of a large march in central London, where national protests involving hundreds of thousands of people had been staged every Saturday since the outbreak of the conflict.

Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said the rallies were organised to show that “ordinary people” support a ceasefire.

He said: “We demand justice for the Palestinian people - their right to self-determination and to live in freedom, safety, and with full human rights.”

The Metropolitan Police said that a “significant” policing operation had been implemented for the capital this weekend.

They said they would target deployments in areas “with significant Jewish or Muslim communities”, which they said “continue to experience increased uncertainty and fear in light of events in the Middle East and their impact here in London”.

At the same time, British Transport Police issued Section 14a orders prohibiting protests on Saturday at many of London’s main rail stations in anticipation of disruption by pro-Palestine activists.