Violent scenes erupted on the streets of yet another North East city last night and The Northern Echo covered events as they developed. Tom Burgess attended the scene in Sunderland this morning to see the aftermath.

I wasn't sure what to expect as I drove up to Sunderland this morning, I had seen pictures of buildings and cars burning on Friday night. 

A post put out on social media that had received a lot of support from locals suggested meeting at The Peacock and cleaning up the streets after all the violence.

Walking up High Street West I could see a crowd of hundreds gathered near the burnt out remains of a car. 

(Image: Northern Echo)

Everyone was holding brooms and bin bags to collect rubbish and I was amazed by how clean everything was so early in the morning. 

I started talking to Ella-Joy Hunton and Dawn Richardson who were both keen to emphasise how important the community coming together and repairing the damage was.

Ella-Joy explained that a lot of the rioters had been bussed into Sunderland but that she had recognised some faces of locals in videos on social media.

Dawn said: "It’s amazing to see everyone coming together this morning.

"Hundreds of people cleaning the streets. The council have done an amazing job.

"They’ve cleared up the vast majority of it already. We just want to help in any way we can."

It was a real mix of the community clearing up, once the burnt out car was moved everyone with a broom went to work scrubbing the road free of the debris.

(Image: Northern Echo)

I spoke to city councillor Dominic McDonough about his thoughts on the clean-up efforts of the morning and he described it as "fantastic".

He added: "I came out this morning at 7am to see what I could do.

"We just want to get the city centre back into shape.

"The reputational damage to the city is really bad but coming together today can help stop that.

"The number of people here is fantastic. This is what our city is about. We don’t want people seeing our city like last night."

(Image: Northern Echo)

Yusuf Meah, 41, Imam of Sunderland University said: "What we saw last night is not representative of our city.

"We all know this born and bred in this city. This morning from 8am people have gathered.

"They are showing that Sunderland will not be divided."

(Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

The overwhelming message from everybody that I spoke to was that they believed the real Sunderland was on display this morning. 

They didn't want the violence of last night to overshadow the incredible progress Sunderland is making as a city and the kindness of the people living there. 

Everyone I spoke to on the streets was horrified by the mindless damage which had been done.

I walked across the city to find the Citizens Advice Bureau and the police drop in centre which had been vandalised.

(Image: Northern Echo)

I was shocked at the extent of the damage. Windows of some shops had been smashed but a concerted effort had been made to destroy and loot Waterloo Place.

Shamsul Huda, who has lived in Sunderland for 30 years, struggled to put his outrage into words.

He said: ‘It’s the most vulnerable people that use the citizens advice bureau and the police.

"This will cost the tax payer money. This wasn’t a protest, it was pure hooliganism.

"The people of Sunderland did not do this."

Fellow onlooker Rhema Sunshine could not believe his eyes. He expressed shock that people would attack the police in Sunderland.

He said: "This is horrendous. I can't believe people would attack the police in Sunderland. 

"They put in huge efforts to keep people safe, the police here are really respectful.

"What kind of message are these people (the rioters) trying to send by doing this?"

(Image: Northern Echo)

The most shocking moment of my day was speaking to Reverend Chris Howson about his experiences protecting gravestones the night before.

He described having to chase people out of the Sunderland Minster grounds and locking the gates. 

This was after rioters were "trying to lever the gravestones to throw them" at the police below. 

Thankfully, the church staff were successful and secured the premises.

Rev Howson also described helping distressed people through the rioters to safety whenever there were flare ups.

Jacqui Tyson, one of the priests at Sunderland Minster, said the community had come together for the clean-up operation, with local Imams and other clergy involved on Saturday morning.

(Image: Northern Echo)

She said there will be a prayer vigil later on Saturday and a peace walk through the city on Sunday afternoon.

She said: “There is a lot of shock and anger, so hundreds of people came together to clean up the city.

“I have come her this morning to express solidarity with the people of Sunderland.

"You can see here all the various communities in our city and we are all here to repair it.

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I felt a real sense of hope after seeing the efforts people in the city had gone to to fix the damage of the night before.

I hope that people across the country do not associate the violence and thuggery of last night with the people of Sunderland - they were out today repairing the city they love.