Mud sticks. Once an area has gained a reputation for trouble it is almost impossible to lose it.

In the wake of the noisy, expensive and violent scenes around the March for England in the city on April 21, a new group calling itself the South East Alliance has set up a Facebook page to recruit people to take part in a Smash the Reds event in Brighton on November 20.

No doubt their opponents will want to return the sentiment.

Let us be very clear – these groups may profess to be on separate sides of an ideological divide, but they are united in their enjoyment of running street battles which make life miserable for civilised folk.

These events need to be nipped in the bud now. Brighton must not become a byword for pitched battles between rival thugs.

The traders whose business is damaged, the tourists who stay away in droves and the young woman who risks blindness through a stupid act of cowardice will all say the same thing – there is no room for extremists on our streets.