This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A town has reacted in disbelief and anger after a mob of 100 youngsters surrounded a group of police officers on 3 November and attacked them with fireworks and bricks.

The violent confrontation in Stanley, County Durham, quickly escalated after officers had been called to help a drunk teenage girl near the town’s bus station.

The bodycam footage, which was released last week, showed a chaotic scene, with a hardcore of youths instigating the trouble eventually forcing the police to use pepper spray.

“It’s petrifying, my kids are 22 and 23. They were little rebels when they were young but this is completely different,” said Lorraine Mewes, 53, a hairdresser at salon Cut Above on the high street.

“Even a few years ago it wasn’t like this, and it makes you feel ashamed seeing the town in the news for this.

“I think there was probably a few rebels and then they’ve all just been swept up in it but it’s hard to believe they were all from Stanley. I’ve watched the video over and over again and I couldn’t believe it.”

This sense of shock and anger was reflected across the community, with little else talked about as the market stalls began to open in the pouring rain on Front Street on Saturday. Aside from sympathy for the officers, many people also expressed frustration at the damage to the town’s reputation.

Durham police said they had released the footage to provoke such a reaction, in the hope it would make people realise the dangers of allowing such large groups of teenagers to come together.

On the video, officers are heard to say: “We are asking people nicely to move away.” Then, after tensions rise, they shout: “Everybody out, move back now.”

A police community support officer was punched in the face and a group of about 20 youths wearing hoodies threw bricks and shot fireworks at them.

Mewes said: “All I could think was, why are these kids doing this to their own town?

“For years the town was in a bad way but now it feels up and coming again and the kids are spoiling it for themselves.

“People often say there’s a lack of things to do, but even when we ran youth clubs there were always the ones that spoiled it, they just have no respect.

“A big part of the problem for me is all the rights of the teachers, police and the parents to discipline the kids have been taken away.”

Sgt Dave Clarke said his officers were forced to use pepper spray, after giving the group at least 10 warnings to disperse.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Police say they released the footage to provoke anger in the community. Photograph: Northumbria police

He said following that the trouble, he had invited parents of those involved to watch the footage and police have now set up a text service to alert parents to collect their children should there be trouble in the town centre.

Despite claims there were no longer enough officers to deal with such incidents, Clarke said the force had the necessary resources but policing such flashpoints removed staff from other, important work.

Bev Stalker, 49, who owns Cut Above, said her 16-year-old son no longer comes into Stanley because of the risk of trouble.

“The other night I was closing the shop and my shutters jammed and I was absolutely petrified as I didn’t want to leave with them not down,” she said.

The incident also led the commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Cressida Dick, to say filming police officers as they were being attacked in the street had become a game for certain members of the public.