IPSWICH: Violence marred Royal wedding celebrations as police struggled to contain around 40 yobs involved in clashes and anti-social behaviour, it emerged today.

A police car which had its windscreen smashed was among a number of vehicles damaged in the Hawke Road area while fights broke out throughout the night.

Bricks and bottles were said to have been thrown by drunken hooligans over a six-hour period.

The incidents led to the Suffolk Constabulary helicopter being sent up over the area and riot-trained officers being called in from other areas of Suffolk.

One man was taken to Ipswich Hospital with a head wound as a result of the trouble.

At one stage, paramedics attempting to help a man injured by a brick were advised to keep a safe distance until the police arrived.

Police have said they are treating the incident as grievous bodily harm, although the man is not believed to have been seriously hurt.

Officers had received a large number of calls from residents about rowdiness in Hawke Road, and also in neighbouring Robeck Road, throughout Friday, a police spokeswoman said.

Just before 7.50pm, officers were sent to the area after being informed around 40 people were having a noisy party and that anti-social behaviour had been taking place.

However, the officers were forced to withdraw due to the numbers who confronted them.

By around 8.25pm, it was reported that around 50 people were drinking in the road and throwing bottles. More police units were sent as reinforcements were called in.

At one stage, a brick was thrown through the rear window of a police car and some officers were soaked with beer.

Police said the problems seemed to calm down after they arrived, but the trouble would spark up again when officers left.

Riot-trained officers were eventually despatched and the trouble seemed to come to an end at around 2am after four police vans had been patrolling in convoy through the area.

Kirsty Stevens, who lives in Hawke Road, said: “The Royal wedding was just an excuse for drinking and causing trouble.

“There was about a hundred of them. They all just appeared from nowhere. They were drinking beer and cider all day and then the fighting started.”

Ms Stevens, 38, claimed she saw people kicking a man who had passed out at the end of her drive and a group of lads putting glass bottles under her car tyres.

Referring to the Channel 4 television series about a housing estate in Manchester, Ms Stevens said: “The way people acted round here makes Shameless look like the Royal wedding.

“It should have been a lovely day, but in this street the minority ruined it for us all.”