Thousands of extra riot police were drafted into Cologne today to cope with expected violence between militant right and left-wing protesters as a bitterly contested pan-European "Anti-Islamisation Conference" got underway in the German cathedral city.

The three-day event is being staged by the city's far right "Pro Cologne" organisation which is campaigning to stop the construction of a mosque in a suburb and claims that Germany has fallen victim to creeping "Islamisation." The group has recently won seats on the city council.