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Police move in to quell protests Police move in to quell protests
(41 minutes later)
Police have had to form a barrier between two groups of demonstrators in Nottingham city centre on Saturday. Hundreds of rival protesters have clashed on the streets of Nottingham city centre.
Dozens of officers had to act after hostile exchanges between Unite Against Facism and the English Defence League in the Old Market Square. About 300 Unite Against Fascism members staged a protest in the market square, as a similar number of English Defence League supporters also held a rally.
A large-scale police operation has been in operation in the city on Saturday ahead of the two demonstrations and a military parade. Outside Nottingham Castle there was pushing and shoving as police tried to keep order after an earlier verbal exchange between the groups.
Hundreds of police officers have been deployed in the city centre. The clashes came after troops returning from Afghanistan paraded in the city.
Police had planned to keep the two sides apart as Christmas shoppers and football supporters were in the city. Earlier thousands of Christmas shoppers gathered to watch the 500 troops from the Mercian Regiment march.
'Major operation' The homecoming parade followed a six-month tour of duty in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan where the regiment lost five soldiers and dozens of its men were injured.
The Mercian Regiment also marched through Nottingham on Saturday morning. Flag flying
Senior officers had planned a major operation to stop any violence during the English Defence League's planned protest against "radical Islam" and counter-protests from the Unite Against Facism group. A 43-year-old EDL member, a serving soldier who did not want to be named, said: "We came here to support our lads, and the UAF and other militants have turned up.
Previous marches in Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds have led to disturbances and arrests in the city centres. "I think it's disgusting. I look at their protest and there's a Pakistani flag flying with a Muslim symbol. Their protest isn't against the EDL, they're protesting against the troops and it's anti-British.
The statue of Robin Hood outside Nottingham Castle was boarded up to prevent damage during the protests. "They haven't got one Union Jack or St George's Flag. I'm not a fascist, I'm not a Nazi but I am British."
Michael Vickery, from the UAF said: "It's not good enough not to have any kind of a response (to the EDL presence) because basically, if we don't have a protest then it's letting them come into town and say 'this is our place for the day' which it isn't, it belongs to everyone in Nottingham."
Hundreds of officers were drafted in, some from other forces, to police the events in the city.
Nottingham Forest were also playing at home against local rivals Leicester City and thousands of Christmas shoppers had to walk round the protests in their hunt for gifts.
Nottinghamshire Police Authority estimates the security operation will cost it about £1m.
It has recently had to pay for policing of a number of other high-profile events, including a protest by climate change activists at Ratcliff-on-Soar power station and a recent visit by the Cabinet. It hopes to be able to claim back the money from central Government.