A TASK force is to be set up in Burnley to address the underlying issues behind the weekend of racial violence.

Council and the police will also meet the borough's MP Peter Pike on Friday and are calling for a cabinet minister to come to the town to work with the task force to develop a plan for the future.

Those moves were decided at a two-hour meeting in the town hall yesterday afternoon involving the council, police, Lancashire County Council and community leaders from across the town.

More than 40 people attended, many said to be deeply shocked by the violence of Saturday night and Sunday morning when a pub and two shops were firebombed and several cars were set on fire.

Afterwards, in a joint police and council statement, the meeting was described as constructive and fruitful with everyone being given the opportunity to express their views, anxieties and hopes for the future.

Four clear messages were said to have come out of the meeting:

  • Asian and white community leaders agreed that the kind of disorder seen on the streets of the town could not be allowed to happen again
  • That the community of Burnley was stronger than the minority of trouble-makers
  • People wanted to work together
  • They would move forward together to face up to the current difficulties

Deputy mayor Coun Rafique Malik said a small minority was damaging the reputation of the town.

He urged elders in all sections of the community to stop people from going on the streets and taking the law into their own hands.

He added: "I think the community united can put it right with support from police and other law enforcement agencies."

Police said that they had no evidence the British National Party or any outside political extremists were involved in the racially-motivated violence that rocked Burnley.

Chief Supt John Knowles, commander of the police Pennine division, said the cause was still under investigation but seemed to surround an attack on an off-duty taxi driver.

He appealed for all sections of the community not to over-react and not allow themselves to be provoked.

At the joint council and police press conference at Burnley Town Hall, council leader Stuart Caddy said the events had come as a complete shock and were devastating as far as Burnley was concerned.

He said for 30 years they had worked to make Burnley a multicultural society and the weekend's events were of extreme concern.

Det Chief Supt Knowles said the heavy police presence would continue for the next few days or until the trouble stopped.

"Our first priority is to bring peace back to the streets of Burnley," he said.

A very detailed investigation was under way with the aim of bringing those responsible to justice.

Asked if the release of two men arrested in connection with an alleged attack on two Asians may have fuelled the anger, Mr Knowles said inquiries were continuing and they had been released on police bail pending those investigations.

He denied police were too slow to react to the situation. The scale of police response was reflected in the comparatively small number of injuries, he said.

Commenting on reports that North West police chiefs were seeking clarification on the use of plastic bullets to contain demonstrations, Mr Knowles said the guidelines were clear.

No plastic bullets had been used in Burnley and there were no plans for them to be issued.

Yesterday, the BNP denied any part in the violence and said any member caught causing trouble would be ejected from the party.