Arrests were made after a female police officer was “seriously bitten” and crowds attempted to storm homes linked to asylum seekers during a second night of disorder in a market town.
Two men were arrested after two police officers were taken to hospital in Thetford, Norfolk, after anti-immigration protests on Wednesday.
It was the second night of disorder following incidents on Tuesday night where properties were damaged by having windows smashed and fences broken, and people attempted to break into a residential property, police said.
Increased police powers were granted on Thursday evening, allowing officers to direct people to remove face coverings or leave the area if they commit or “may commit” anti-social behaviour.
Those who refuse to remove a face covering when asked may be arrested, Norfolk Police added.
The force said “significant police resources” were deployed to Thetford on Wednesday night to maintain public safety after a large group of people gathered on Clover Way.
Officers responded to reports that people were “trying to gain access to a residential property”.
Group members “became physically aggressive towards officers – two were taken to hospital after a male officer was struck with a rock and a female officer was seriously bitten, breaking the skin”, police said.
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice claimed the disorder is a sign “local people are furious that large numbers of illegal migrants are being dumped into their locality”.
He told Times Radio: “Those local communities should be allowed to express that concern and anxiety without instantly being smeared and labelled as being bigots in some way.
“That is very different to any form of violence.”
Windows on a terraced house on that street appeared to be smeared with broken eggs on Thursday.
A marked police car was parked near to the street, which is close to a primary school, and uniformed officers were seen at the rear of a property.
The police response was criticised by some local people.
A resident of Clover Way, who asked not to be named, said that at around 9.30pm on Wednesday “lots of young boys … came up on bikes and chucked eggs at the house”.