A SENIOR police officer told a court there were "unacceptable" levels of public safety during the riots in Burnley.

Chief Superintendent John Knowles told a jury that people should deserve more than being left "burning in their homes" despite deploying a massive police operation.

He was speaking, along with Superintendent Christopher Wade, at Preston Crown Court at the trial of six people charged with the violent disorder and criminal damage following incidents inn Burnley in June 2001.

The court heard how police officers were 'unable to guarantee public safety' during the riots. But when asked on the cause of the riots Ch Supt Knowles said: "I do not think the white hooligans had any plans to do what they did at the time. It was a short term decision based on drink."

He said there was no evidence people had come from out of town and said: "It would be inaccurate to say some people had come just to cause trouble."

The police used local officers' knowledge to identify whether or not people were from Burnley. But Ch Supt Knowles agreed this method of identifying criminals was not conclusive.

The Task Force Report, compiled after the riots, was also drawn into question for not addressing some central issues. The defence said the statistics in the report -- based on the Census in 1991 -- showed that Daneshouse ward was not a "prominently Asian area", with only 44 per cent Asians, as was described in the report. The court also heard the only minority group represented by a written statement in the report was a Bangladeshi group who, according to the report, were critical of the way the riots were policed.

Ch Supt Knowles said the report was based on information from public meetings across Burnley, responses from websites and responses from questionnaires sent to all households in the borough.

Defending barrister Matthew Ryder went on to say that the police response was hindered in part by restrictions on resources.

Ch Supt Knowles said resources were not limited for such an operation and as many officers as were needed would have been available. But he admitted there were limits on time as to how many could be deployed and where. As it was, there were five police units mobilised -- each made up of one inspector, three sergeants, 21 police constables and around four vehicles.

The court heard the policing of the incident was dominated by the safety of officers and more than 50 calls from the public were not responded to across the weekend.

Mohammed Bashir, 22, of Forest Street, Burnley; Mohammed Nawaz, 35, of Lord Street, Brierfield; Asif Khan, 24, of Francis Street, Burnley; Abdul Rahim Kayani, 18, of Brougham Street, Burnley; Tariq Saddique, 28, of Azalea Road, Blackburn and a 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, all deny the charges.