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Far right protesters have cost West Yorkshire Police almost £3 MILLION since 2010, it has been revealed.

A Freedom of Information request showed how demonstrations led by groups such as Britain First and the English Defence League cost West Yorkshire Police £2.8m – and the time of more than 4,500 officers.

The total figure spent between 2010 and 2016 is £2,846,243.18, with 4,517 officers deployed to man demonstrations and ensure protests were carried out peacefully.

Police in Kirklees, meanwhile, spent £521,463.42 on police officers staffing four major protests.

One demonstration in Batley in August 2014 cost £170,982 in police resources, with 564 officers needed for the day.

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Bradford was the region which incurred the most spent, with £2,198,011 used for police resources at four far right demonstrations since 2010. This is 77.2% of the force’s entire expenditure.

A far-right event in Calderdale in May 2015, meanwhile, cost £72,716 out of police resources.

The costs relate to overtime, deployment of staff, special policing services and mutual aid spent by police only, and do not include costs incurred by the council and lost trade.

West Yorkshire Police said they do not routinely record how much is spent on policing protests.

A force spokesman said: “The size of the event or the nature of the event, ie an EDL protest, will dictate risk and harm and the force’s response to minimising the threat to protesters and the public.”