WARNING: The video above contains strong language

A witness who watched in horror as protesters took to the roof of a restaurant at Piccadilly Gardens says police officers came under attack.

The 28-year-old solicitor, who did not want to be named, spoke out after fresh footage emerged which appears to show officers facing severe intimidation.

Hundreds of people gathered in the city centre area - with several protesters on the roof of Rice restaurant hanging an anti-austerity banner.

Police cars and vans arrived to tackle the issue.

Previous footage showed teenager Saffron Hughes being arrested at the gardens - and another clip showed an officer shouting, ‘stand back, stand back, don’t f****** move’ with some claiming the officers’ force was over the top.

But the witness says the footage (above) shows police being ‘provoked’ at the anti-cuts rally.

The man said he witnessed drunks he regularly sees boozing in Piccadilly Gardens hijack the protest and turn it into an attack on police.

He said: “The police were actually mobbed and attacked. I saw officers being kicked and punched, and even saw one man spit at the back of the head of one of the policemen."

Police were lenient

“It was absolutely vile. I was shocked at how badly the campaigners were acting towards the police.

“They did have batons out but they were never used, only as a deterrent. They were trying to provoke each and every officer. In my opinion the police were being very lenient to what was actually happened.”

He said he was no pro-police but felt the accusations of the incident were unfair.

“I’ve not got a view either way of the police, but what happened that day and the way protesters said they were unfairly treated is simply not true.

“I was there too and know how badly the police were treated. I am surprised more people weren’t arrested if I’m honest.”

Hostile

But police bosses say their officers came under hostile attack - with missiles thrown at them - and believe their response was proportionate.

In a statement released by the police at the time, GMP said their officers were called at 6pm by a member of the public after a group of 20 people were seen behaving rowdily near the children’s play area.

Officers say this group later attached themselves to a anti-cuts protesters who were staging a peaceful protest.

However, members of rowdy group became locked in a scuffled outside a supermarket after being refused entry by security staff, with fighting and street furniture thrown.

Officers who intervened were attacked and three men and a women were arrested. Police also issued a number of dispersal notices.

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