An eerie hush descended on Dudley at 6pm on Easter Saturday, a town breathing a collective sigh of relief after a day when tension stalked the streets, writes our Dudley man Mark Mudie.

The meticulously planned and expertly executed marshalling of the English Defence League (EDL) protest and rival Unite Against Fascism (UAF) event had ensured the running riots many had feared did not materialise.

The pockets of violence which did erupt were unsurprisingly instigated by an EDL element whose sole intention was to wreak madness and mayhem, and the police deserve huge credit for preventing them achieving their goal.

However, suppose the motivation for the protest as stated by the EDL leadership – namely, opposition to the planned £18million mosque in Hall Street – was genuine. (And there are many who remain sceptical the issue was anything other than a smokescreen behind which the group’s thuggery could hide).

All the evidence suggests the EDL fatally misjudged the public mood.

Before the rally, Dudley’s political groups made their stance against the EDL. UKIP councillor Malcolm Davis – the most consistent and dedicated opponent of the mosque scheme, who has collected 50,000 signatures against it – stood with his Dudley colleagues rather than the far-right factions.

On the streets, the disruption served only to antagonise residents who recoiled at the suggestion the EDL spoke for them. Traders lost thousands of pounds; shoppers were forced to stay away and punters hoping for a holiday weekend pint were deprived of that most simple of pleasures.

Wandering the near-deserted high street before the rally on Saturday, anxiety and anger were the common emotions. Anxious their homes and businesses would escape unscathed; angry the routine of their daily lives had been ruptured by outsiders.

Meanwhile at the UAF event around a mile away, the atmosphere was entirely different. Billed as a multi-faith celebration, music blared as relaxed residents and peaceful protesters mixed.

The conciliatory tone of the UAF struck a chord with the people of Dudley which, aside from a handful of rabble rousers, the EDL’s more menacing message did not.

Aware of the council’s protracted battle to deny planning permission for the mosque – purely on the grounds the proposed plot in Hall Street is unsuitable – residents appear to have reached the conclusion they do not need anyone else to fight their corner. Certainly, not a far-right group with an ugly past.

And so as the EDL coaches rolled out of Dudley, the protest’s apparent mission had spectacularly failed. The EDL’s hopelessly misguided invasion had united a community it sought to divide.

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The remarkable success story of the Black Country’s flagship living museum continues to add chapter after chapter, the attraction in Tipton Road welcoming its 7,000,000th visitor this week. From humble beginnings the museum has grown not just in size but also in stature as a proud monument to a proud region.

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The worst kept secret in politics is out – polling day is May 6. And so the most eagerly anticipated election campaign in years commences, with Dudley at its very core (see previous blogs). Let battle commence . . .