A BLAZING scrapyard on the stroke of midnight could have been the spark police and community leaders were leading.

As the fire ripped through 30 or so cars at Burnley Car Dismantlers in Arch Street, just out of the town centre, riot police moved in to protect firefighters as they battled the blaze - believed to be started deliberately and in connection with the past few nights' events.

Fortunately there was nobody to protect them from. The crowds which had stayed away from Burnley town centre all night did not appear. The message relayed by police and community leaders seemed to have been well-heeded.

On Monday morning, a sombre community had awoken to the aftermath of the weekend's troubles.

Police maintained a high profile in the town as the clean-up operation began.

By mid-afternoon many businesses were pre-empting a further night of trouble.

In Duke Bar, one of the worst scenes of Sunday night's flare-up, glaziers measured up windows and fixed wooden boards.

White youths filled the benches outside many of the nearby pubs, drinking in the balmy sunshine.

By the early evening only a handful of drinkers remained.

In Daneshouse, a large number of Asian youths congregated, which ultimately led to the incident involving Shahid Malik.

Hundreds of police had been drafted into Burnley.

The hotspots from the previous night's rioting, Daneshouse, Duke Bar and Burnley Wood, were full of officers in riot gear.

At around 7.45pm police were called to grassland off Abel Street and Taylor Street when what onlookers described as 'very young children' threw bottles and bricks.

Onlookers reported anything from 30 to 100 youths were on the grass when the police arrived.

In Oxford Road in Burnley Wood, police in riot gear swamped the area from 8pm when white youths began to congregate.

And a 16-year-old youth walking in Briercliffe Road at about 8pm claimed he and his friend were struck by police wielding batons.

By 8.40pm, police in full riot gear, some on horseback, sealed off the terraced streets around Abel Street and nearby Grey Street with vans and police cars.

A stand-off ensued although most of the time police and the Asian community were talking to one another.

One resident said: "The Asian lads have been throwing missiles.

"This is the first trouble we have had this week. I think it is moving down from Duke Bar into Daneshouse."

At 9.30pm, Burnley Council's cleaning contractor Biffa was called in to remove a trade skip from the junction of Abel Street and Taylor Street.

It was so heavy the refuse vehicle couldn't lift it. When the workers started removing items, it was found to contain broken concrete flagstones, bricks and many wooden batons.

Shortly afterwards, a large crowd of up to 200 young Asian men and youths gathered at the junction of Abel Street and Old Hall Street.

The mood got quite tense as elder members appealed for calm.

One youth, who was wearing a scarf to cover his face, said: "All we are doing is protecting our mosques.

"We have been receiving threats via our mobile phones from people saying they are BNP."

Appealing for calm, an older member of the group told the youngsters they had no argument with the police. He urged them to go to the mosques to protect them.

Just after 10pm, they congregated back on the grass where the missiles had been thrown earlier and food was served to the crowds.