A march by members of the Ku Klux Klan has been swamped by counter-demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Klan held the rally to protest against a council decision to remove a statue honouring Confederate General Robert E.Lee.

Armed KKK rally in Charlottesville over decision to remove Confederate Robert E Lee statue https://t.co/UVXy7poRgxpic.twitter.com/kB4ZFrynr5 — Harrison Thurman (@HarryO1975) July 8, 2017

The KKK was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee by six former officers of the Confederate army.

Police in riot gear escorted the march as around 1,000 people hurled abuse at the right-wing extremists.

A number of arrests were made.

The protest took place near Emancipation Park, the renamed Lee Park, where the statue of the Confederate war hero stands.

The council says it no longer wants to give “pride of place to tributes to the Confederate lost cause.”