Two charged after Bristol city centre protests

One of the men was charged with possessing cocaine

Two men have been charged by police after violence broke out in the centre of Bristol on Saturday.

Adrian Croft, 45, of Holywell, Flintshire, was charged with a Section 4 public order offence and possession of the Class A drug cocaine.

Damien Williams, 39, of Stockwood Crescent, Knowle, in Bristol, was charged with a Section 4 public order offence.

Both men have been bailed and will appear at Bristol Magistrates' Court on 5 September.

On Saturday 16 people were arrested for various offences during the clashes, including racially-aggravated public disorder and assaulting an emergency worker.

Police said on Monday evening that another man, 36, had been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder overnight and remained in police custody.

Deputy Chief Constable Jon Reilly said the "arrests of those responsible will continue over the coming days".

The arrests came after hundreds of far-right protesters and a counter-protest group gathered for two demonstrations near Castle Park.

The disorder then moved to outside a hotel that houses asylum seekers, with the two sides clashing again and large numbers of police blocking roads.

Tensions have been high across England after the killing of three young girls in Southport, Merseyside, on 29 July.

Det Ch Con Reilly said officers had "put themselves in harm's way" and had faced "significant disorder and abuse".

Following questions about why police were not at the Mercure Hotel on Redcliffe Hill, which was targeted by protesters, he said: "I’d like to reassure people that we had officers outside until they were required to respond to disorder nearby where the risk was deemed to be greater.

"As soon as we became aware that the two groups had gathered outside, officers returned within minutes."

He added that police were aware of social media footage of an altercation between a number of men in Castle Park on Saturday, and two arrests had been made in connection with the incident.