49 held in ethnic riots

Police said yesterday they arrested 49 people overnight following renewed ethnic unrest in the central English town of Stoke-…

Police said yesterday they arrested 49 people overnight following renewed ethnic unrest in the central English town of Stoke-on-Trent.

Of those held, about 20 were expected to be charged in connection with public order offenses, police said.

About 100 Asian youths had gathered on Saturday evening in the Cobridge area of the town, which has a high Asian population, amid rumours of a march by the far-right British National Party which failed to materialise. The youths attacked officers with bricks, bottles and broken paving stones.

The trouble followed three days of rioting last week between Asian and white youths in Bradford, north-west England, in which more than 200 police officers were injured.

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Mr David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, has threatened to use the full rigour of the law against such rioting.