The inquest has begun after the violent disturbances which blighted Brighton's Whitehawk Estate this bank holiday weekend.

Some onlookers claim the police went "over the top" in quelling the disorder after coming under a hail of stones, bricks and bottles.

But police argue the vast majority of decent law-abiding people in Whitehawk fully supported their actions.

There is no doubt that a small minority of idiots, fuelled by drink, have been making life a misery on the estate in recent months.

Vandalism and theft are all too common.

Most people are frightened of confronting the gangs for fear of reprisals, so are delighted the police have gone in hard.

However, questions must be asked about the severe injuries sustained by mother-of-one Kelly White, who was bitten by a police rottweiler and now faces plastic surgery.

But the overriding tragedy is that Whitehawk's name has once again been tainted, with the disturbances making national headlines.

Whitehawk may well be disadvantaged, with poverty and unemployment at high levels, but that is no excuse for violent civil disorder.

Kemp Town MP Des Turner, whose constituency includes Whitehawk, hit the nail on the head when he said the losers in all of this were the ordinary people on the estate, most of whom simply wanted to live in peace.

He said one of the most common complaints he had heard from people prior to Friday was that police were not firm enough in dealing with hooliganism.

Mr Turner now hopes everybody will see sense after the "crazy behaviour" and the disgraceful scenes won't be repeated.

We must all hope Friday's fracas is the end of it, for the sake of the long-suffering majority who are sick to death of Whitehawk's reputation, and for that matter Brighton's, being dragged through the mud.

Take a stroll

It's local elections day in Worthing, Adur, Crawley, Eastbourne and Hastings this week.

But it is likely that only a fraction of people eligible to vote will go to the polls if previous turnouts are anything to go by.

So why not take a stroll to the poll on Thursday and exercise your legs as well as your franchise.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.