British troops have replaced French soldiers on a bridge that divides Serbs and Kosovo Albanians in the town of Mitrovica.

The move followed widespread reports that the French had not properly supported other UN peacekeeping forces during clashes in the ethnically-divided town late last week.

At least eight people, mostly Albanians, were killed and dozens injured in a series of grenade attacks, shootings and clashes last Thursday night.

Crowds ran through the district beating up people in the street and attacking them in their homes.

UN police said that while French troops intervened in several critical areas, elsewhere they stood back as Albanians were attacked.

The French strongly deny that they refused to help the 30 UN police officers on the ground at the time.

They said they evacuated over 120 people from their homes that night, and prevented the violence from moving southwards.

Denial

The French commander in the area, Colonel Jean Phillipe Bernard, denied his troops had been requested to intervene, in spite of the fact that two demands were logged in the police record books.

Eventually, help did come from Danish K-For troops.

"We had no help from French K-For, the only help we had was from a French medical team. The Danish K-For finally came, thank God, to assist us. The Danish troops were superb," one policeman said.

International peacekeepers said it was the worst outbreak of ethnic violence since the end of the Nato bombing campaign in June last year.

The United Nations said 500 ethnic Albanians had left their homes in the predominantly-Serb northern areas of Mitrovica following the attacks.

The Security Council has condemned the violence.

Council President Arnoldo Listre, said members were calling for an immediate halt to the violence, and he urged all parties to exercise restraint and tolerance.