New clashes in UK race riot town

Hundreds of police confronted the rioters

OLDHAM, England -- New outbreaks of fighting have broken out in the English town of Oldham a day after race riots erupted there.

Police reported sporadic fighting and stone-throwing on Sunday in the northern town, east of Manchester.

Overnight race riots there had left at least 20 people hurt and the streets littered with broken glass.

Police patrolled trouble spots in an attempt to prevent a replay of Saturday night's riots, the country's worst outbreak of racial violence in years.

But late on Sunday, a crowd of 30 or 40 people who had been fighting with each other, attacked a pub.

Bricks and stones were thrown at the Jolly Carter in the town centre, smashing windows and trapping people inside, Greater Manchester Police said.

Officers dispersed the troublemakers and allowed those in the pub to leave. With the approach of dusk, police said more fights had broken out.

An unidentified Asian man said: "We are retaliating, trying to put a stop to it. No more, I mean, you've got to defend your own doorstep, your own house.

"When you've got people knocking on your door and dragging your family out and beating them up, you've got to put a stop to it and this is it."

At least 20 people, 15 of them police, were injured and at least 17 were arrested during the Saturday night altercations, which littered the city's main street with rubble and burned-out vehicles.

For more than seven hours, nearly 500 Asian youths clashed with police, throwing bricks and firebombs at hundreds of riot police who had been drafted from the greater Manchester area in northwestern England.

When it was all over at least five pubs had been firebombed.

It was a terrifying night for Kenneth Berry. "I've lived here 35 years and never seen anything like it in my life. I came out of the pub at first light because I was that frightened," Berry said.

The city centre was closed off to allow for clean up and the police investigation. Chief Superintendent Eric Hewitt said he was shocked by the "ferocity and sheer carnage" of the rioting.

Racial tensions have been at an elevated levels for months. Earlier this year, a 15-year-old Asian boy was charged with attacking an elderly white man.

Just three weeks ago, the far-right National Front party marched through Oldham, defying a ban on political marches.

Home Secretary Jack Straw implemented the ban in hopes of easing the racial flare-ups in Oldham.

The violence comes at the height of the country's election campaigning in which the conservative opposition party has been accused of encouraging racial prejudice by focusing on immigration, asylum and refugee issues.

But, while the Labour government has not directly blamed the Conservatives for what happened in Oldham, it is now asking politicians to avoid making remarks that might inflame racial tensions.