Gangs banned from near dairy site

Mounted police have been patrolling outside the dairy after the attacks

Police have been given new powers to tackle gangs of youths in Windsor after a series of disturbances.

Officers will now be able to remove groups from the area around the Muslim-owned Medina Dairy in Dedworth.

Violent attacks by groups of up to 30 people, mainly youths, had taken place near the dairy, which has also been hit with a fire bomb.

A dispersal order will run until 1 January and anyone refusing to comply could face three months in prison.

The trouble near the dairy has led to four people being arrested and two people being charged this week.

A 44-year-old man has been charged with racially aggravated public disorder. and another man is accused of being in possession of an offensive weapon.

Police stepped up patrols at the site, and employed "robust policing tactics".

Ch Supt Brian Langston said the disorder appeared "to have escalated from a minor disagreement - as a result, we have seen groups of Asian and white local youths gathering in the area of Vale Road".

The owners of the Medina Dairy, on the former Express dairy site, run a 24-hour operation and have proposed plans for an Islamic religious centre on the site.

The dispersal order has been granted under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.

Fines of up to £2,500 or a three-month jail term, can be levied to anyone in a group who does not follow police instructions to leave the Dedworth area.

Anyone who is not from the area can be ordered to leave for 24 hours.