More violence on Caia estate

Police in full riot gear were pelted with petrol bombs and missiles as a crowd of up to 200 people ran amok during a second night of violence on a north Wales housing estate.

Trouble first erupted on Wrexham's Caia Park Estate overnight on Sunday with what police say were "racially motivated" clashes sparked by an incident between a local resident and a refugee.

Over 100 officers were drafted into the area on Monday - including reinforcements from Merseyside Police - four of whom received minor injuries.

A further five people were arrested, on top of nine men who were already being held by North Wales Police who warn more arrests are likely.

The second night of trouble began just before 2100 BST when crowds gathered near the Red Dragon pub and on park land in the middle of the estate.

We will be coming for you....People should not have to put up with this

Chief Constable Bill Brereton

Residents said a car was pushed into the river Gwenfro and set alight, stones were thrown at shop windows, then bottles, lumps of coal and petrol bombs were hurled at police dressed in riot gear who were trying to keep the crowd from moving further up the street.

Reinforcements were drafted in from Merseyside Police. One officer said he had seen young children throwing petrol bombs.

But by around 0130 BST on Tuesday the crowds had mostly died away.

One eyewitness said she saw youngsters in a stand-off with officers.

"I saw kids as young as 10 throwing petrol bombs," she said.

One resident who did not wish to be named added: "I've never seen anything like this in all my life."

Police were at the scene all night

On Tuesday, North Wales Police Deputy Chief Constable Bill Brereton warned rioters: "We will be coming for you. We will be very strongly investigating this very robustly."

"There will be arrests made over the coming days. We have got some very good evidence.

"So if people have been involved in this situation, we will be coming for you, on our terms, at our time, and making arrests because we cannot tolerate this."

Mr Brereton rejected suggestions that policing had been heavy-handed.

"People should not have to put up with this," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Caia Park's got a bad enough name as it is

Local resident

"We had disorder. Clearly, we had extra officers there. It turned out there was disorder, there were missiles being thrown, there were petrol bombs being thrown and clearly we had to call for more officers to go in to help."

Mr Brereton said the violence was the result of "a number of issues going on".

Dog handlers and mobile vans with surveillance equipment on board were called in to help police in riot gear.

Local people, too scared to reveal their identities, said they feared for their families' safety.

"We've never had fighting here before," said one woman who lives near the Red Dragon pub.

She added: "The kids are too frightened to go to school.

"Caia Park's got a bad enough name as it is."

On Sunday night around 30 people were involved in two separate incidents near the Red Dragon pub on the estate's Prince Charles Road.

Those clashes, described by police as being "racially motivated" were between local residents and Iraqi refugees.

The Iraqis involved had lived on the estate for a year and there had never been trouble before.

On Monday Iraqi residents living in Caia Park told members of the Wrexham Assylum Seekers and Refugee Support Group that they were afraid to return to their homes on the estate.

Five men are expected to appear at Mold Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with violent disorder following the disturbance in Caia Park on Sunday.

Nine others who were arrested at the same time and on Monday night are still in custody being questioned by police.