Eight police officers injured in Bristol riot

Around 160 officers had raided a house at 9.15pm to arrest four people they said were “a real threat to the local community”.

Assistant Chief Constable Rod Hansen, of Avon and Somerset Police said: “Residents have called us to several incidents in the property over the past few days. Yesterday there was a very real threat to the local community from the petrol bombs that were being made and we needed to take positive action.”

However the operation caused a riot to brake out, with eyewitnesses reporting police fighting running battles with hundreds of protesters, who dug up cobbles from the road surface to throw at them.

A branch of Tesco Metro on Cheltenham Road was petrol bombed.

Asst Chief Constable Hansen said: “The safety of the public is paramount in any situation of this kind and we took the decision to carry out a swift arrest operation, following intelligence received about the criminal intentions of those who were occupying the building.

“The fact that we seized petrol bombs illustrates the seriousness of this situation and the reason why we took this positive action.

“When 300 people congregated and a small minority from that group started small fires and throwing bottles, stones and other items at officers, we used well-rehearsed plans, which involved the use of officers from neighbouring forces, to control what had become a volatile situation.”

The riot was brought under control at around 4am. Three people were arrested on suspicion of public order offences and another person on suspicion of threats to cause criminal damage with intent to endanger life.

Eyewitness

Primary school teacher Nick Jones witnessed the rioting. He said what started as a peaceful protest quickly turned ugly and suggested gangs from other parts of Bristol had joined in.

“People came from different areas, hearing what was going on. It turned into a running battle up and down the street for two hours.

“Between 2.30am and 4.30am there were bottles thrown and rocks. I saw a police officer get hit in the face and go down – he was taken away in an ambulance.

“People had weapons. They had saws and shields themselves. It turned from ‘interesting’ to ‘scary’ very quickly.”