Clashes between groups of Asian and white youths over two nights were sparked by an altercation in which a 15-year-old boy and his mother suffered minor injuries, police said yesterday.
Detective Chief Inspector Steve Reschwamm said the disturbances in which the Muslim-owned Medina Dairy in Windsor, Berkshire, was targeted began after the incident on Monday evening.
Chief Superintendent Brian Langston told a Press conference that t
wo gangs of youths, white and Asian, confronted each other the following night near the Medina Dairy but that swift police action prevented any violence.
Despite a police presence on Wednesday night, a petrol bomb was thrown at the dairy. It failed to ignite.
Mr Langston said a planning dispute over the change of use of one of the dairy buildings into a Islamic education centre was the reason for some of the hostility. But he stressed that the three days of unrest were not "race riots".
Local residents claimed dairy staff had intimidated people walking past the firm and barred entry to the road which runs between its two premises, a shortcut to the local primary school. Dairy owner Sardar Hussain denied this.
Asked if the incidents might deter the Queen from spending the night at Windsor Castle, which is just minutes away from the site of the unrest, Mr Langston said: "I'm fairly confident that the activities in the
area will not cause
the Queen any inconvenience."
