Protestors clash with police in Bradford

Skirmishes broke out today at a controversial demonstration by far-right group the English Defence League.

EDL supporters threw bottles, cans, stones and a smoke bomb at opponents gathered in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Police moved the public away for their own safety as missiles sailed over a temporary 8ft high barricade separating the two groups congregating at the Urban Gardens.

Opponents of the EDL, Unite Against Fascism/We Are Bradford, met about half a mile away at the Crown Court Plaza to hold an alternative static demonstration.

At lunchtime, buses began bringing EDL supporters from towns and cities including Hull, Merseyside, Manchester, Stoke, Southport, Dudley, Wigan and Stockport.

Police erected the barricade around the Urban Gardens to ensure EDL members and their opponents were kept apart.

Only one entrance to the gardens was open and protesters had to pass through metal detectors to gain entry.

Beyond the heavy police guard, opponents gathered to hold their own demonstration and the two groups traded insults with each other.

Several hundred people gathered in the Urban Gardens, many wearing black EDL hooded tops with the name of their home town or city printed on the back.

One EDL member, a Muslim called Abdul Salaam, 40, from Glasgow, was escorted into the gardens by police under a chorus of shouting from opponents.

Unravelling a Glasgow Rangers flag, he asked reporters: “Why are they against the United Kingdom?

“Islam doesn’t teach you hatred, it teaches you peace.

“These people are hypocrites, they are not true Muslims.”

Another EDL member said: “It’s not about being white and proud, it’s about being English and proud.”

When trouble started, police pushed the EDL members away from the edge of the barricade towards the centre of the gardens, while their opponents were moved into neighbouring streets.

Then the far-right group held a rally as police in riot gear held their line across the gardens.

Skirmishes broke out between EDL supporters and their own stewards, who stood in front of the police.

Police said around 700 people had gathered at the Urban Gardens, between 250 and 300 at the Crown Court Plaza for the Unite Against Fascism/We Are Bradford event, and 150 for the community event called Be Bradford – Peaceful Together at Infirmary Fields.

The West Yorkshire force received support from neighbouring forces, including Greater Manchester, Northumbria and Humberside.

Events were held on Friday to urge people in the city to unite.

Bradford Together organised a peace vigil which took place outside the council offices in Jacobs Well.

Bradford Women for Peace also held an event at Ivegate in a show of “peace, unity and solidarity”.

The calls for peace came amid fears the demonstrations could provoke a violent reaction to rival the 2001 riots.

In a bid to prevent trouble, Bradford Council issued “consequences cards” to people today, should they look to be moving towards a demonstration.

The cards warned the reader that, after the 2001 riots, 191 people were given sentences totalling more than 510 years.

Initially the EDL intended to march in Bradford with a planned protest by Unite Against Fascism on the same day.

A high-profile campaign was started to stop the EDL march and a 10,000-signature petition opposing it was handed to the Home Office.

Home Secretary Theresa May was asked to authorise the ban by Bradford Council.

It came after West Yorkshire Police’s Chief Constable, Sir Norman Bettison, wrote to the council requesting an order to prohibit any public processions over the August Bank Holiday weekend.