Twelve members of Britain First staged a peaceful protest outside Maidstone Mosque today - and inadvertently raised £120 towards the construction of a new one.

Britain First is against plans to build what it calls a "mega mosque" in Kent's county town.

But a rival group called the Maidstone Anti-Racist Network had promised to donate £10 to the development fund for every Britain First member who turned up.

The money will go towards replacing the current centre with a three-storey complex of classrooms, library, offices, kitchen, three shops and a flat.

A spokesman for Britain First insisted it had been a successful protest with "loads of beeping and cheering and loads of support."

In a live broadcast on Facebook he said: "You can rest assured we will not stop until these mega mosque plans have been scrapped by the council."

He accused councillors of sitting in "ivory towers" and passing proposals "without a whimper of opposition" and warned: "If you are a councillor who passes any proposals for any type of mega mosque then we will confront you personally and hold you personally responsible."

When his four-minute piece to camera was interrupted by car horns he continued: "As you can see, the people of Maidstone do not want this mega mosque. Enough is enough."

He said money for the development was coming from the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia and extreme Islamic states in the Middle East and complained: "There is not a single church in the whole of Saudi Arabia."

He went on: "Our disgusting, treacherous, self-serving parasite politicians are selling us out. They are betraying our ancestors by allowing this enormous Islamic influx into our country. Britain First is opposed to this avalanche of Islamisation."

By 4pm this afternoon the video had been viewed 31,000 times and had more than 500 shares.

Jonathan Terranova, 27, of the Maidstone Anti-Racist Network, said: "Eight supporters of Britain First were in the town centre last Saturday so we have already raised £80 to give to the Imam.

“The more Britain First members who turn up, the more money we will collect through crowdfunding for the mosque. We will use their campaign against them in the most peaceful way possible.”