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Vue Cinemas has been accused of ‘institutional racism’ after it pulled a film about warring gangs from its entire chain following a mass fight involving machetes in Birmingham.

The cinema chain withdrew the film from its 91 cinemas on Sunday after police responded to calls over youths brawling at the entertainment complex Star City.

The brawl erupted in the cinema and a 13-year-old girl and four other teenagers have been arrested.

Seven West Midlands Police officers were injured in what they described as ‘the worst thing they have ever seen’.

Police had to draw Tasers to get the crowd under control. The rioters spilled into a queue of children and parents who were there to watch Frozen II, causing some to scream and run.

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(Image: PA)

Two machetes and knife were recovered in the incident.

Vue cancelled the screening of Blue Story over fears it had sparked the riot. A spokesperson for the cinema chain has refuted allegations of racism.

They said: "We can confirm a decision was made to remove the film from our cinemas. The safety and welfare of our customers and staff is always our first priority.

"We are saddened to have had to take this step, which is not made lightly, particularly as the film itself seeks to strike a strong message against violence."

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An outcry on Twitter has seen social media users defend Blue Story and the director Andrew ‘Rapman’ Onwubolu. Elliot Warren said the decision vilified the film, adding it gives an ‘honest, never glamorous, depiction of gang life’.

On the contrary to inciting violence, he suggests, the film could “save young people’s lives”.

Blue Story is about two friends who become rivals in a blood-spilling postcode war between South London’s Peckham and Deptford.

Gang crime, rife in London, sees around 200 gangs fuelling the violence across the city often after grooming young people.

Gangs recruit youngsters by promising protection resulting in the young person being indebted to the gang and having to carry weapons or drugs on their behalf.

(Image: PA) (Image: PA)

Often, they are led into a life of drug-dealing, sexual exploitation and violence through a false sense of belonging which is then difficult for them to escape.

One outraged person commented on Twitter: “I actually can’t believe @vuecinemas has stopped showing #BlueStory across the country because of one incident! It’s horrible what happened but to blame the film is ridiculous and stinks of racial bias!!!”

Meanwhile, Dr Asim Qureshi claims it is not an isolated event, writing: "The decision by @vuecinemas to ban #BlueStory from their cinema seems bizarre at best. Reminds me of the way @LBC went after @stormzy over knife crime, pathologising culture over thinking through larger sociological issues. We reduce to culture because, of course, the Other.”

And another noted that the movie Batman wasn’t pulled after twelve people died in a cinema showing the Dark Knight Rises in Colorado in 2012.

They wrote: "@vuecinemas didn’t pull the plug when the cinema was shot during a Batman screening. They didn’t pull the plug when people were wearing masks & doing purges after The Purge came out.

"But Bluestory gets the cut when the fight occurred during Frozen 2?#NoBlueNoVue #BoycottVue

Families of the Batman shooting victims wrote to Warner Bros over concerns the new Joker film released this year was too violent, and urged the studio to join action against gun violence. However, it said the film did not depict real-life violence.

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In response to Vue’s decision, ‘Rapman’ defended the film, claiming it advocates ‘love not violence’.

A second cinema chain Showcase has also made the decision to cancel Blue Story.

And Odeon cinema is also reviewing its policy on the film.

A spokeswoman said: "We are aware of reports of violence at cinemas which have been linked to the film Blue Story. The safety of our guests and colleagues is our number one priority.

"We have a number of security measures in place for this film, and are currently reviewing these along with our programming, in order to continue to put the safety of our guests first.”