2001 Oldham Race Riots

2001 Oldham Race Riots

The 2001 Oldham riots were a short but intense period of violent rioting which occurred in Oldham, a town in Greater Manchester, England, in May 2001. They were the worst ethnically-motivated riots in the United Kingdom since 1985, briefly eclipsing the sectarian violence seen in Northern Ireland. The Oldham Riots were the first of a series of major riots during summer 2001, which saw similar ethnic conflicts follow in Bradford, Leeds and Burnley.

The riots followed a long period of ethnic tensions and attacks in Oldham, occurring particularly between groups of the local communities and South Asian-Muslim communities.

The most violent rioting occurred in the Glodwick area of the town which is a multi-ethnic district of Oldham and home to a large community of Pakistani people.