A REFUGEE has been hurt in a scuffle in the North-East.

Cleveland Police are satisfied the attack on an Iraqi asylum seeker on Teesside was not racially motivated.

But the scuffle, in Pym Street, South Bank, near Middlesbrough, revealed a communications breakdown, and triggered a meeting between police, the local authority, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and support workers.

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said: "Police were called to a minor disturbance between a couple of local people and one Iraqi.

"Three people were arrested and one has been charged with violent disorder and assault.

"There has been a meeting in headquarters between community safety and local authority officers and the support team. It's purely an exchange of information.

"It is purely for information and to develop a protocol for contacting people.''