A sticker placed in Liverpool by the National Action group

The number of neo-Nazi-linked referrals to the government’s official deradicalisation programme is outstripping cases involving Islamist extremism in some parts of Britain, a minister has revealed.

New figures show that almost 300 youths under 18 were flagged up last year under the government’s Prevent strategy amid concerns about the growing influence of the far right.

At least 16 of these neo- Nazi-linked referrals involved children below the age of 10.

Fears that far-right activists may be grooming a new generation of Hitler Youth in the UK emerged as police investigate the appearance of stickers in one suburb of Liverpool declaring “Nazi-controlled zones”.

The stickers, posted by a youth movement called National Action, which has previously held marches proclaiming “Hitler was right”, were timed to coincide