DUDLEY residents have heaped praise on police for the way they handled the recent English Defence League protest in the town.

Around 30 residents and business owners attended a public meeting at Dudley Council House last night (Wednesday) to give their feedback following the event on February 6.

Chief Inspector Phil Dolby said the meeting was a first for the force and was organised before the protest took place, "without knowing how it would go".

He added: "We are committed to learning from it and will be taking everything on board."

Irene Colbourne, a local resident and neighbourhood watch co-ordinator, said police had been "first class" on the day.

She continued: "I thought the police were absolutely brilliant. Everything was explained to us before the event and everything we were promised did happen."

Councillor Mohammed Hanif also praised the police for the work they did before the event, reassuring the local Muslim community of what to expect on the day.

The pro-active approach was also appreciated by Councillor Shaukat Ali, who added: "I spent the day at the mosque and the UAF demo and I feel the police did an excellent job in difficult circumstances - both beforehand, keeping local people and businesses informed as best they could and on the day."

The force had recruited a number of community stewards to work alongside them on the day, including Shaz Saleem, chairman of Dudley Private Hire and Taxi Association.

He said: "I have always respected the police but I respect them even more after seeing how calm and professional they were. The confidence they had in us as community stewards was very welcoming. The community worked together and it was a good day."

Afzal Amin, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Dudley North, added: "The event was very peaceful, it was the calmest EDL event I have ever seen."

Chief Superintendent However not everyone had a positive experience, Jason Lewis-Young, deputy manager at The Station Hotel, Castle Hill, said the event had been detrimental to business as staff were late for shifts due to road closures.

He said despite being smartly dressed and therefore "not looking like troublemakers", police failed to make a judgement call when it came to letting staff through the barriers, adding: "We had a situation where people couldn't get into work. Our business wasn't operating as it should have been.

"I think we failed to deliver good customer service on the day and it was out of our control."

Chief Superintendent Chris Johnson took his comment on board and said if there were to be a next time, it would be considered but said that road closures had been widely publicised in advance.

Chris Green, from the Al Karim Foundation, said the protest "shouldn't have gone ahead" and people in Kates Hill were "on lockdown" and too afraid to leave the area.

Chief Supt Johnson said the force did not organise the event but it was important to have "an element of control".

He said he understood why people were fearful but said he hoped the way the event was controlled would give residents the confidence to carry on as no