The public's reaction to the BBC's Britain First documentary will restore your faith in Britain

Britain First starred in a BBC3 documentary on Tuesday night and has reacted furiously to what they called a "hatchet job".

The far-right group, which says it wants to remove all trace of Islam in Britain and has a huge following on social media, allowed film director Miles Blayden-Ryall and his camera crew to follow them for four months over the summer.

But after the journalist spent time with leader Paul Golding and deputy Jayda Fransen, the first woman to take a leadership role in a far-right British party, the group suddenly blocked his access and their security guards were seen on camera making threats to the crew.

During the documentary, titled "We Want Our Country Back", Britain First members repeatedly claimed that they are "not a racist group", were seen marching through the streets holding giant wooden crucifixes and Union Jacks and incessantly shouting "Rule Britannia".

The group also decried Islam for its supposed suppression of freedom (while trying to block the BBC camera crew from filming on several occasions), spoke of "mosques on every corner" and one member even told a Muslim man to "go back to the desert" during one altercation.

Vine: Chris York

Before and since the broadcast, Golding has sent a number of emails to Britain First members, first warning of the "horrific" documentary and claiming that the BBC was trying to "drag our movement through the gutter".

On Monday evening, Golding sent an email referencing the documentary in which he claimed, with no hint of irony:

Unfortunately in the UK we have a media that is completely dominated by 'left-wing' politics.

They twist, distort, fabricate and outright lie in order to slant every news story to fit their multicultural, pro-Islam, EU agenda.

They will throw everything but the kitchen sink at us in order to destroy our reputation.

Then, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, several hours after the documentary was broadcast, Golding sent another email titled "BBC report only a few hours away‏"...

In it, he called the documentary a "hatchet job" against "us as individuals and against our beloved movement", adding:

The BBC have gone out of their way to paint patriots like you and I in a very poor light using taxpayers' money.

On Wednesday morning, Golding sent a further email with a suddenly triumphant tone. "Is that the best the BBC can do?" he exclaimed.

After launching what was clearly a personal attack on myself, Jayda and our loyal Britain First comrades, the BBC seem to have achieved the undesired effect of making us more popular.

While claiming that Britain First had received lots of support following the documentary, Golding appeared to omit the relentless mocking they received online and everyone who sought to dispel their Islamophobic myths:

More: Britain First is using a Polish Spitfire to promote its nationalist values