These were the scenes yesterday when the English Defence League marched in Luton town centre.
Around 2,000 EDL members walked from High Town to St George’s Square, next to the Town Hall, much fewer than the 7,000 that had been expected.
But despite concerns the right wing group could rampage through the streets and provoke mass violence, the event passed off relatively peacefully, with only eight arrests, mostly for possession of offensive weapons and assault.
A counter demonstration by Unite Against Fascism (UAF) was also peaceful, with around 1,000 protesters filling Park Square at the opposite end of George Street.
At all times the groups were kept separate from each other by hundreds of police officers, of whom more than 1,500 were drafted in an £800,000 operation.
At around 1pm the EDL marched from Luton Train Station, through Mill Street and New Bedford Road, past The Galaxy Centre and out into St George’s Square, carrying banners and placards and chanting ‘E-E-EDL’ and ‘England till I die’.
Earlier, the UAF had tried to blockade the train station, with members linking arms in a bid to prevent EDL members passing through, but the situation was resolved without any trouble.
Between 1.30pm and 2.30pm both groups heard speeches from a variety of speakers, with the UAF hearing from Luton North MP Kelvin Hopkins, equality campaigner Jim Thakoordin and Euro MP Richard Howitt.
The EDL heard from its founder, Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, Kevin Carroll of Luton and Austrian Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff.
By 3.45pm St George’s Square was empty, with EDL members being escorted back to their buses in High Town.
There were still a number of protesters in the area of Castle Street and in Bury Park but any possible problem was soon dealt with by community mediators.
