MASKED anti-BNP activists fought hand-to-hand with riot

officers and pelted them with stones as the party held its

controversial Red, White and Blue festival this weekend.

The violence happened on Saturday when protesters tried to

barricade a road leading to the festival.

Police armed with batons moved in to quell the

demonstrators, making 27 arrests.

Meanwhile, a 400-strong anti-BNP march passed off mostly

without incident, apart from a scuffle when protesters wanted

to go further than a pre-agreed police cordon.

Shops closed, traffic was disrupted and residents said they

felt like prisoners in their own homes during the protests.

Now, they are pleading for the BNP not to return so the

violence does not happen again.

Among those who faced disruption was farmer Chris Sewell,

who was forced into a violent confrontation with the masked

activists as he defended his family's land.

The protesters, who chanted "down with the BNP", poured from

the farm's fields to a junction with Codnor-Denby Lane at 11am

on Saturday, with tyres, poles, gates and horse-jumps they used

to build a barrier.

Police believe this was an attempt to block vehicle access

to the festival.

Mr Sewell, 21, desperately struggled to stop activists from

re-entering George Farm before riot police arrived.

He said: "They were trying to jump back into our fields but

I ran along the gate and fence pushing them off.

"Then the police arrived with batons and pushed them down

the road and they leapt over the fence and into other fields to

get away from them.

"The police got us to build a barrier so they couldn't come

through the gate again."

Mr Sewell said the protesters had caused massive damage to

his family's farm and called their actions "unfair".

He said: "We are still waiting for an assessment of how much

damage was done and how much it will cost.

"The cows are at the other side of the site so they weren't

bothered but the horses are all really spooked."

The farmer was not the only person affected by the violence

as local residents looked on in horror from windows in cars and

houses.

John Lumsden, 65, of Codnor-Denby Lane, was on his way home

from buying a paper when he saw activists pouring across the

road ahead.

He said: "I saw masked men charging across with gas bottles,

gates, tyres, pretty much anything you would expect to find on

a farm.

"Two police vans arrived behind me and riot police got out

with shields and batons.

"They charged the protesters. I saw one-on-one fights and

they were throwing stones at the police."

Watching from a bedroom window overlooking the road were a

retired couple, who asked not to be named.

The man, 68, said he feared for his property after seeing

some protesters charge into his neighbour's garden.

He said: "I think they went in to find more to add to the

barrier. A police cordon was formed to hold them back – not

physically though, they just formed a line the people couldn't

go beyond.

"Then riot police came with their dogs."

Police took the barrier apart but could not prevent the

junction of Denby Common, Breach Road and Heanor Road being

closed for more than half an hour.

They said about 40 protesters were involved in this clash,

six of whom were arrested for violent disorder.

The rest made their getaway across fields.

A police helicopter, launched early on Saturday to give a

bird's-eye view of events, saw the protesters had joined a

footpath which led into Kensington Avenue, Heanor.

At noon, three vans of officers were scrambled to the

village where they confronted the protesters again.

The activists threw stones at officers and tried to escape

through back gardens before police managed to subdue them,

making 20 arrests of men and women, for violent disorder and

breaching bail conditions.

Although the battle took place some metres away from houses,

residents said they saw the protesters lined up against a fence

after their arrest.

Rav Kooner, 39, of Kensington Avenue, said: "Some of them

were handcuffed on their fronts but the scene was mostly

peaceful. Some of the protesters seemed young – teenagers.

"It was a big shock to see something like this on our road

because it's normally so quiet."

Six people were arrested for breach of the public order

act.

The police could not say when one further arrest on Saturday

was made.

As the clashes took place around the site, a mostly peaceful

anti-BNP march and rally was held in Codnor, by groups

including Stop the BNP, Unite Against Fascism and Derby Racial

Equality Council.

Buses from across the country brought people into the

village from 9am. Police estimated that about 400 people took

part while Stop the BNP said the figure was between 500 and

700.

The march at midday was largely without incident accept from

a scuffle when protesters tried to go beyond its designated

finish point at the junction between the A6007 Heanor Road and

Codnor-Denby Lane.

Police formed a 26-man cordon but some protesters attempted

to push through.

A scheduled protest by 30 protesters nearer the festival

entrance also took place for about 15 minutes in the face of

obscenities shouted from cars driven out of the BNP festival

site.

The march meant Heanor Road was closed to traffic for more

than an hour-and-a-half.

The executive director of Derby Racial Equality Council,

Kirit Mistry, said the official protest was largely

successful.

He said: "The march was a bit confused, because there were

two separate groups which came together for it. It was as

peaceful as it could have been.

"When we got to the end of the road there was pushing and

people weren't responding to instructions.

"But the message has been given clearly to the BNP that we

don't want them in Derbyshire."

Graham Hopkins, of Denby, brought his six-year-old daughter

to the protest. The 45-year-old said he did not want the

festival near his house again.

He said: "The area is totally unsuitable for this kind of

event. It causes so much disruption like noise and the traffic

from BNP members coming into the site."

Other residents and politicians, including most of those

disturbed by the violent protests, agreed with him.

Peter Murfitt, 60, of Codnor-Denby Lane, described the march

past his house as "inconvenient" but said the BNP should not

come back.

He said: "It used to be a respectable area and we feel the

BNP being here is a bit shaming."

Other residents said that they had been disturbed by noise

from the festival, flashing lights and drunken youths making

Nazi-style salutes in the early hours of Friday.

Labour MP for Amber Valley Judy Mallaber said noise and

traffic caused by the festival disturbed residents.

She said: "Before it came to Derbyshire they held it in

Lancashire, completely off the beaten track. I'm not suggesting

they should have them back, but to hold it in Denby is

ridiculous."

Her sentiments were echoed by Derbyshire county councillor

Eric Lancashire, who said the festival, which also took place

on Friday and yesterday, was unfair on residents.

Mr Lancashire, whose Horsley ward includes Denby, said:

"They've held the festival twice there. Twice is twice too

much."

Last night, police would not say whether any of the arrested

protesters had been charged. They said there had been no

disturbances inside the festival.

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