St Pauls and Stokes Croft Riots

bristol | protests | news report Tuesday August 09, 2011 11:07 by Syder

Early this morning about 200 people ran riot across the streets of Bristol, mainly in St Pauls, but also along Stokes Croft/Cheltnam Rd. Cars were torched and windows smashed as disillusioned youth expressed what they think of the Big Society.

The riot started just after midnight, with groups of young people, with many in masks congregating on the streets around St Pauls. While the police sealed off the area around Cabot Circus, people moved onto Stokes Croft, where a couple of bins were set alight and several bottles were thrown at riot police as they began to form lines. The crowd, probably numbering around 200 people was moved off Stokes Croft and along Ashley Rd and City Rd and into St Pauls. In St. Pauls several cars were torched, and the police were pelted with bottles, bricks and other projectiles as lines of riot police moved the crowds around the narrow streets. After 2am the confrontation seemed to have largely died down, with the crowd having dispersed into smaller groups melting away into the backstreets and homes.