Fresh violence follows Oldham riots

Riot police have been out in force again

Fresh violence has broken out in Oldham, 24 hours after a night of rioting in the town.

The offices of a local newspaper were firebombed as the trouble escalated from sporadic fighting on Sunday night.

The attack on the Oldham Evening Chronicle offices followed earlier accusations that the paper did not give fair coverage to Asian victims of racial abuse.

Hundreds of riot police have been out in force as barricades of furniture and tyres have been set ablaze, and petrol bombs and stones have been thrown.

Officers have been involved in stand-offs with both white and Asian youths, some gathering in groups of up to 200.

The newspaper offices were targeted in the violence

A group of riot police narrowly escaped injury when a speeding car drove at their lines. The seven officers were forced to dive for cover as the car sped off.

But by 0400BST on Monday the situation appeared to have calmed and the crowds were reported to have dispersed.

Seven white youths and five Asian youths are reported to have been arrested during the night.

Greater Manchester Police promised zero tolerance on any trouble after what was described as "sheer carnage" of Saturday's running street battles.

The riots left 15 officers injured and an area of the town scarred by burned out cars, rocks and broken windows.

Ten civilians were also hurt, and 17 people were arrested.

The BBC's social affairs reporter Barnie Choudhury said Sunday night's trouble was not on the scale of Saturday's violence, but the area had been tense.

He said police targeted flashpoints - identifying a trouble spot, moving in and containing the problem before moving on.

Pub attacked

He said petrol bombs had been thrown in the Glodwick area, the scene of Saturday's worst stand-off where 500 youths hurled fire bombs, bricks and firecrackers at the police lines.

Earlier on Sunday night trouble flared when a pub in Oldham town centre was attacked.

The Jolly Carter was reportedly bombarded with bricks by up to 40 people who had been fighting outside.

Elsewhere in the town about 30 white people chanted racist songs as they walked from pub to pub, but the group was quickly dispersed by police.

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Green said on Sunday that the police response to further violence would be tough.

He said police, who were still investigating the cause of Saturday's rioting, had the backing of local council leaders and representatives from ethnic communities in the Oldham area.

Community leaders believe the violence erupted after a gang of white men attacked a shop and threw a brick through the window of a house in the Glodwick area, where a pregnant Asian woman lived.

Racial tension

Politicians condemned the violence, but the Liberal Democrats claimed Conservative comments on asylum may have stirred up racial tension.

But Labour supported the Tories' denial that they could not be blamed.

Oldham, where about 12% of the 219,000 population is of Asian origin, has seen several incidents of racial tension over the past few weeks.

Last month national newspapers printed pictures of a 76-year-old war veteran who said he had been attacked by a gang of Asian youths.

In early May Mr Straw banned political marches in the town, in response to fears of growing racial tension.