Far-Right protesters threw missiles and clashed with police in Whitehall after attempting to reach the Cenotaph ahead of a huge pro-Palestinian demonstration through central London on Saturday.

Bottles were thrown and fighting broke out as police tried to prevent around 1,000 far-Right marchers and football hooligans reaching the Cenotaph for the 11am silence.

Dozens broke through a line of officers near Scotland Yard, and police could be seen hitting out with batons. Police reinforcements raced to contain the crowds as they jostled to get towards the Cenotaph.

At 11am, a two-minute silence was held to mark Armistice Day and a wreath-laying ceremony took place at the Cenotaph. The crowds of protesters cheered the military during the service.

Scotland Yard said: “While the two-minute silence was marked respectfully and without incident on Whitehall, officers have faced aggression from counter-protesters who are in the area in significant numbers.

“[Officers] were met with violence and abuse by counter-protesters who threw bottles and other missiles at them.”

Earlier, the Far-right leader Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, and his supporters marched through Trafalgar Square towards Whitehall. Chants of “England til I die” and “You’re not English any more” were heard as they broke through police lines.

Yaxley-Lennon later appeared to leave in a taxi while a group marched to Chinatown, where they confronted police and shouted abuse, with a man arrested on suspicion of possessing a knife.

James Fillery, a former Army sergeant who had paid his respects at the Cenotaph, condemned the far-Right activists.

“I am glad that they didn’t disrupt the silence. That would have been so disrespectful. I think many of them thought this was some kind of football match with all their chants,” he said. 

“I just thought they were idiots, and I doubt they would have had the guts to serve their country.”

Shortly afterwards, there was a brief confrontation between small groups of the far-Right and pro-Palestinian protesters in Trafalgar Square. 

A number of men trampled over the names of dead Palestinian children which had been placed on the steps to the National Gallery before the pro-Palestinian activists left the area.

Police later detained a large group of far-Right counter-protesters near Westminster Bridge, corralling them along a section of Bridge Road. 

A man was arrested for assaulting a police officer and a second detained for possession of a controlled substance.

At one stage, the corralled protestors broke through a police blockade formed outside Westminster Tube station.

Witnesses on the scene reported that first one then several protesters pushed their way through the police line, shouting “w------” and “Rule Britannia”. Police horses were drafted in to blockade the road and divide the different groups.

The clashes near the Cenotaph came as tens of thousands of protesters calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza marched from Marble Arch to a site close to the US embassy in Battersea.