Protesters in UK topple slave trader Edward Colston's statue, throw it in harbour

Protesters in the UK's southwestern city of Bristol tore down the statue of Edward Colston's, stamped on it and threw it in the harbour as the killing of African-American George Floyd by Minneapolis police in the US continued to stir the nation.

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The 18-foot bronze statue had stood on Bristol's Colston Avenue since 1895.

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Prime minister Boris Johnson condemned the attack saying: "These demonstrations have been subverted by thuggery -and they are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve."

"Those responsible will be held to account."

The incident went viral on social media as people took videos of the statute being thrown into the water.

Bristol mayor Marvin Rees said: "I know the removal of the Colston Statue will divide opinion, as the statue itself has done for many years," adding, "However, it's important to listen to those who found the statue to represent an affront to humanity."

The Opposition welcomed the toppling of the statute with Labour party lawmaker Clive Lewis saying: "Someone responsible for immeasurable blood & suffering. We’ll never solve structural racism till we get to grips with our history in all its complexity. #BLM"

There were protests across the country in Manchester, Wolverhampton, Nottingham including in Edinburg and Glasgow.

In London where protests were mainly peaceful, twenty-nine arrests were made even as scuffles were reported in front of PM Johnson's residence at 10 Downing Street.

Colston whose statute was brought down was known to have a monopoly on the west African slave trade. Colston had joined a company Royal African Company (RAC) in 1680 which is believed to have sold around 100,000 west Africans in the Caribbean and the Americas.