Fighting toe-to-toe with police, mobs in Wolverhampton armed themselves with sticks and hurled bottles and bricks as terrified shoppers and office workers fled.

The city witnessed some of the worst scenes in its history as youths clad in hooded tops and scarves wrought havoc.

They inflicted thousands of pounds of damage on businesses that just happened to have the misfortune of being in the path of their devastating wrecking spree.

See also: Wolverhampton riots in pictures.

Trouble that started to brew in other parts of Wolverhampton culminated in a chaotic and dangerous two hours in the city centre during the height of the rush hour.

After hours of escalating tension following trouble in Birmingham yesterday, the first sign of trouble came when dozens of shoppers were locked inside the Asda supermarket near Molineux after a gang gathered in the car park at around 3pm.

Police arrived and evacuated the store, which was then closed for the rest of the day. Fifteen minutes after the disturbance, there were reports of missiles being fired at Staveley Police Station in nearby Whitmore Reans.

The focus of the rising tension then switched to the city centre, where the trigger for the mindless violence  was the release of an unknown explosive in Queen Square at around 4.30pm.

By then around 300 youths had gathered near the Prince Albert statue, confronting the heavy police presence which had been deployed to defuse the anxious atmosphere which took hold of the city centre from lunchtime.

The explosive, believed to be a firework, was released into the crowd sounding a loud bang which drew screams from onlookers.

An injured man was led away clutching his face by police as dozens of the assembled crowd sped off down Dudley Street, beginning a sequence of events which was not brought under control until around 6.30pm.

The breakaway group of around 50 youths unleashed a wave of vandalism on shops including Burton’s menswear, T Mobile, Next and Marks & Spencer as police pursued.

Meanwhile other splinter groups formed in Princess Street, Wheeler’s Fold, Wulfruna Street and King Street and launched the first attacks on police, hurling bottles at officers wielding riot shields and helmets.

Minutes later shoppers waiting for buses in Lichfield Street were forced to flee as another group threw missiles including bricks, bottles and stones at a line of police.

Bouncers on the doors of the Lady Wulfrun pub opposite Wolverhampton Art Gallery invited terrified passers-by into the building to shelter from the escalating violence.

Members of the mob started taking on police in toe-to-toe combat, kicking out and punching as officers became separated into groups of two or three. In the melee one thug knocked a policeman to the ground, to cheers from the baying crowd.

With increasingly aggressive groups of yobs scattered throughout the city centre a game of cat and mouse developed as police tried to contain each section and prevent them congregating en masse.

From 5pm more businesses fell victim to the yobs who smashed windows at Number 1 Pizza, Coral bookmakers and TA Henn jewellers, in Market Street, as well the RBS bank and the Tap and Spile pub in Princess Street.

A group of more than 100 gathered in Queen Street shortly after 5pm as police formed lines at either end of the road, at its junction with Princess Street and in front of the city’s new £22.5m bus station.

At around 5.30pm violence erupted as the crowd, some of whom were wielding hammers they had brought with them, launched frenzied blows with weapons, fists and feet on businesses up and down Queen Street.

Windows were smashed and shutters torn at independent shops including Digitech mobile phone shop and EV Beckett jewellers. The pavement outside Zhapp clothing was left covered with glass.

Burglar alarms rang out from several of the breached businesses as anarchy took hold just yards from static police lines which did not advance to confront the crowds, seemingly concerned other groups being contained elsewhere in the city centre could flood in behind them.

After smashing their way into the computer, jewellery and clothing shops widescale looting began and lasted for half-an-hour with workers and residents in flats opposite and above watching the carnage unfold.

While some raiders covered their faces with hoods and scarves others strolled in and out of stores collecting their stash with their identities clearly visible, returning several times to thieve more goods.

They dipped underneath shutters, disappearing for minutes at a time before emerging clutching handfuls of tops, jeans and shoes from Zhapp; boxes filled with electrical equipment from Digitech and jewellery from EV Beckett.

A lone shopkeeper stood defiantly in front of her hair salon, arms outstretched, to warn the yobs they would not pass. Louise Johnson protected her Louise salon despite receiving no help from police, who stood at either end of the street in rows but did not break their lines to tackle the looters.

Shortly before 6pm the group dispersed into the city centre, heading away in both directions along Princess Street.

The thugs headed to Broad Street and began a sustained attack on shops there.

It was 10 minutes before police arrived by which time Sumitek.com had been smashed open and large amounts of computer equipment taken. One yob in a red hooded top was cheered by the crowd as he carried away a large plasma screen TV which he could barely hold.

Other casualties included Le Monde clothing in Victoria Street and Lichfield Street Opticians. Quick-thinking bosses at Le Monde hastily travelled to their Tettenhall store to board it up after looting at its flagship city centre branch.

When officers arrived in Broad Street they sent the gangs scrambling towards the ring road and out of the city centre, signalling a shift in the balance of power as police gradually seized control of the situation.

For the next few hours officers patrolled streets which had been at the centre of the violence, stopping cars as they came into the city from the ring road.

People caught up in the chaos spoke of their fear as the mob took hold of the city centre.

A man, who did not want to be named, said Le Monde had been attacked by a group of 30-40 youths who smashed the shutters and broke into the store before stealing handfuls of clothes.

“It was the most frightening thing I have ever seen in my life. We were boarding the shop up when 30 youths came round the corner,” he said.

“We ran inside the shop and pulled down the shutters but they just smashed their way in. We had to escape  through the backdoor.”

A Queen Street resident, who watched the violence unfold from her flat near Cash Generator, said: “I saw everything. They were damaging loads of shops. They just completely destroyed everything.

“Everyone knew it was going to happen but I didn’t think it would be this bad. My sister joined me after the rioting had stopped but I was on my own when it was happening. It was horrible. I was terrified.

“I thought when they broke into Cash Generator, if they decided to burn it, they could burn my flat as well.

“They could also have broken in. We have locked the doors but they could break in.”

She added: “Why didn’t the police do anything? They were just standing there. On one side of the road we had 12 officers, on the other side there were 20, and they were just standing watching.”

Jas Singh, who runs the Wulfrun Hotel on Queen Street, said he was terrified that his business would also be targeted and he also feared the gang would turn their attentions towards the city’s new bus station.

He added: “I have to remain on the premises because I have people at the hotel. They are really nervous and I have told them if it starts again just go downstairs to the cellar.”

He added that the police were trying to do a “great job with what they have got” but he wanted the army to be brought in to help deal with the trouble.

“They need to send them in and start arresting people,” he added.

Staff at Don Salvo restaurant in Darlington Street described how gangs had assembled bricks outside in preparation for the riot. Later six people attempted to enter the restaurant and staff had to fend them off with makeshift weapons.

James Drago-Ferrante, from the restaurant, said: “We opened last night although all our reservations cancelled. We served just two people. Basically there were nine of us in the restaurant armed with rolling pins and ice bucket stands ready to defend and protect our business in case of possible criminal damage or stealing.

“The gang that came in had two adults leading them – the other four were just kids. We managed to keep them out trouble-free, but it was tense and scary.”

There had been rumours of disorder building throughout the day on social networking sites including Twitter and Facebook.

And dozens of shops closed early in anticipation of the destruction that was to follow.

Shops in the city centre opted to close from around 2pm as tensions rose, including TK Maxx and Gamestation in the Mander Centre.

Arnold Wilcox-Wood, director of the shopping complex, said decisions had been taken by individual traders and head offices but no advice had been issued by Mander Centre bosses.

The Mander Centre’s shutters, on Victoria Street, were drawn down before 4.30pm and The Lady Wulfrun, usually filling up with post-work drinkers at that time, was closed soon after.

White vans were seen parked outside The Bilash Indian restaurant off St Peter’s Square which had its windows were boarded up.

National Express had its Queen Street office windows smashed and the bus operator terminated its services at Ringway on the ring road, rather than coming into the city centre.

Elsewhere, businesses took precautions to prevent them being targeted. Stratstone Jaguar in Stafford Street cleared its cars from the dealership and took them to a safe place.

Shoppers who were locked inside Asda supermarket, off Waterloo Road, at the start of the trouble said they had no idea what was going on when they were stopped from leaving the store.

Debbie Siley, aged 44 from Owen Road, met her three children who were shopping in Asda.

She said: “They just shut the door. They wouldn’t allow us out. There was a small group outside causing trouble. so we couldn’t get out of the supermarket.

“We saw police taking a few people away. And then they opened the doors and told everyone to get out because they were shutting down for the day.”

Gangs of youths had been spotted arriving in the city on buses from 4pm amid a heavy police presence at the new terminus, which only opened last month.

Supt Mark Payne took to Twitter throughout the day to update followers.

Last night he posted: “Excellent CCTV of offenders in Wolverhampton,” revealing officers had made “over 20 arrests… for various offences” adding: “More to follow in the next 24 hours.”

He also took to the social networking site to dispel two persistent rumours that he said “need stopping” about rioting at Bentley Bridge Retail Park and a man being shot in Wolverhampton.

Just hours after the disorder was brought under control and relative calm restored to the streets, two separate ‘Clean up Wolverhampton’ pages had been set up on Facebook. They asked people to arrive in the city centre at 8am and 9am today respectively at The Prince Albert statue in Queen Square.

By this morning the pages had attracted more than 150 people between them and both clean ups were due to run until 12pm today.

One of the pages said: “Bring anything you can to clean up, bags, brooms, gloves etc.”

Laura Rose Quinton added: “Really loving how people are coming together as a city and community to help clear up what these disgusting excuses for people have done to our city.”

A Twitter page called riotcleanupWolvo was also set up urging people to turn out to help clear up the debris.

A posting by the page creator said: “If anybody can tell us what the situation is in Wolverhampton please let us know – we’ll be there to clean up.”

Wolverhampton’s city centre manager Kim Gilmore was today reflecting on a frightening afternoon as she helped shops reopen. She said: “I was in the city centre yesterday afternoon, I thought it was incredibly intimidating. I felt unsafe in my own city which is a horrible feeling.

“They are mindless thugs out to cause mayhem. This was mindless violence and I would hope the courts deal with them appropriately.

“There was a large police presence in the city but we were advised to leave, which we did at about 5pm. We kept in touch with things via radio and Twitter.

“It is incredibly upsetting for the traders to have their livelihoods wrecked this, particularly the independents.

“The Mander Centre and Wulfrun Centre are open today and although there has been damage to shops in Dudley Street we are expecting them all to open today.

“The council have done a fantastic job cleaning up.

“It will be up to individual shopkeepers to sort out their interiors.”