Police arrest 74 in clashes at right-wing demo

British police arrested 74 people during clashes following rival protests by members of a far-right group and their opponents in northern England on Saturday.

Mounted officers and police dogs were deployed after trouble erupted at demonstrations by the English Defence League (EDL), a group which stages protests against "radical Islam," and the Unite Against Fascism organisation.

Around 3500 rival protesters had gathered in the town centre of Bolton, near Manchester, and police said many had been "hostile and confrontational."

Police said the arrests included 55 members from the anti-racism group UAF and nine from the EDL. Those detained included the organiser of the UAF protest, held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit violent disorder.

"It is clear to me that a large number have attended with the sole intention of committing disorder and their actions have been wholly unacceptable," Garry Shewan, Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said in a statement.

"Turning their anger on to police officers, they acted with, at times, extreme violence and their actions led to injuries to police officers, protesters and members of the public."

Two officers and five members of the public suffered minor injuries.

It was the latest protest by the EDL to have ended in violence. The EDL sprang up last year after a small group from a local Muslim community staged a protest in the southern town of Luton against soldiers returning from Iraq.

The far right has made political progress recently, with the British National Party winning two seats in the European parliament last year.

Experts on community relations fear a rise in tensions between working class whites and immigrant communities could lead to further violence in the run-up to an election expected in May.

- Reuters