A Tesco Express store in Stokes Croft, Bristol was the scene of a riot last Friday involving 160 police officers in riot gear and over 300 protestors.
The riot stemmed from a police raid on a nearby apartment that was believed to contain petrol bomb-making equipment to be used on the store. Several police officers and protestors suffered minor injuries and eight arrests were made.
The Tesco in Stokes Croft has been the subject of protests since it was first proposed in 2009, and a smaller-scale riot took place in February 2010. The store had opened the previous week.
A Tesco spokesman said the store would remain closed while the damage to it was assessed, but that it would reopen. “We strongly condemn the violence in Stokes Croft and the injuries caused to the members of the police who worked courageously to protect the public and businesses in this area, including ours.”
Claire Milne, co-ordinator of the No Tesco in Stokes Croft campaign, said that the riot was “the inevitable result of a retail behemoth setting up in an area that simply does not want it”.
“The homogenisation of the high street is the antithesis of the creativity that exists here,” she added. “There is also a strong sustainability and organic movement here.”
No comments yet