Cologne sex attacks: Ukip deputy leader Paul Nuttall demands to know where refugees live in UK

The British government must release details on where refugees to the UK are being housed, according to Ukip deputy leader Paul Nuttall.

The far-right MEP wants the police force to reveal "the exact background" of any suspects in crimes committed in this country "as a matter of total transparency", supposedly in order to prevent attacks like those in Cologne on New Year's Eve.

German police are investigating a wave of muggings and sexual assaults allegedly perpetrated by men described as being from the "north African or Arab world" in the city in the north west of the country

So far, 31 people, including 18 asylum seekers, have been identified as suspects in the attacks, which mostly took place outside Cologne's main railway station. Meanwhile, 121 criminal complaints have so far been made, including two counts of rape, causing Cologne's police chief Wolfgang Albers to step down.

Writing for extreme right-wing blog Breitbart London, Nuttall described the Cologne attackers as "setting themselves upon women like a pack of rabid dogs".

Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to allow up to 20,000 Syrians displaced by its bloody civil war into Britain, while Germany has so far allowed more than a million people to take refuge in 2015 alone.

In response to previous comments made by Ukip about asylum seekers in Britain, Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International UK, said: "The reality is that many of the desperate people trying to make it to Europe are fleeing terrorism, conflict and persecution. The refugee and migrant crisis is an EU-wide problem that needs an EU-wide solution. Leaders must act now to share responsibility for refugees across Europe."

Meanwhile, Unite Against Fascism has previously accused Ukip of "whipping up racism" over immigrants, and trying to foster "the sort of climate that breeds hatred and violent racist attacks on Britain's streets".