Man arrested over mosque violence

A 39-year-old man has been arrested after violent clashes took place outside a Staffordshire mosque.

Up to 200 people were caught up in Monday's incident which lasted several hours and involved worshippers from Burton-on-Trent's Central Mosque.

A police spokesman said the trouble stemmed from an internal dispute within the mosque and they did not expect a repeat of the incident.

More arrests were expected to be made shortly, he added.

Calm overnight

Supt David Forrest of Staffordshire Police said: "I want to make it clear we do not expect a repeat of this incident which involved an internal dispute within the mosque.

"When disputes spill on to the streets, creating public disorder, people considering such action need to understand police will deal robustly with such criminal behaviour."

Crowds gathered outside the Central Mosque in the Uxbridge area of Burton in Staffordshire on Monday evening.

Dozens of officers were needed to deal with the trouble which saw punches thrown and a number of people injured.

Staffordshire Police said order was maintained overnight due to the presence of police officers in the area.

It was the second such incident in two years, the spokesman added.