The police in Derry are to examine CCTV footage of disturbances in the city centre in the early hours of yesterday morning in which the police say up to 200 people were involved.
Two police officers and one civilian were injured and a civilian arrested when the trouble started in the Shipquay Street-Guildhall Square area of the city just after 2am.
Chief Insp John Burrows said that the crowd attacked 50 officers after nightclubs in the city centre closed down.
"They threw bottles, beer cans, paving stones and fencing at my officers and the injuries would have been a lot worse but for the fact that they were wearing riot gear including helmets, padding and shields and were in armoured Land Rovers," he said. "It was an extremely dangerous situation for my officers. The disturbances lasted for almost two hours and as part of our investigations we will be examining CCTV recordings from the scene."
Among the premises slightly damaged was a BBC creative workshop marquee in Guildhall Square. A member of the BBC staff who was called out during the disturbances said he believed reports of the incident had been exaggerated. "I couldn't believe it when I heard on the national news about the disturbances. I was there and, okay it was dodgy for a while, but then the trouble subsided.
"Our marquee was slightly damaged, a plasma screen was smashed, tables and chairs were thrown about the place and sections of the security fence around the marquee were thrown at the police, but today it's business as usual. Reports of a two-hour long running battle between the police and a crowd of over 200 are well wide of the mark. There was a large crowd but only a few dozen were involved in the trouble."
A publican, whose premises are close to the scene of the disturbances, said there was a larger than normal police presence in the city centre.