Hugh O'Donnell, the co-ordinator of Creggan Neighbourhood Partnership (CNP), spoke out after several media outlets carried reports of a "sustained attack" on police during an Easter commemoration.

The PSNI claimed officers came under attack from a crowd of up to 70 young people throwing petrol bombs, paint bombs, stones and other missiles. Two youths were later arrested but subsequently released; 40 petrol bombs were seized by police officers.

Eyewitnesses dispute PSNI claims of a riot or that police officers came under "sustained attack." Mr O'Donnell blamed a "slow day in the newsroom" for what he described as "exaggerated" reports of what happened.

"There is a lot of good work being done in the Creggan area and reports like this are unhelpful. It seems that, if it is a slow day in the newsroom, reports of certain incidents are somewhat exaggerated and this does not help anyone."

Foyle Sinn Féin MLA Martina Anderson says both the PSNI and the media have a responsibility to report incidents with accuracy. "The community is able to identify what happened on their streets on Monday afternoon and they are saying quite clearly that this was not a full scale riot. Reports need to be accurate and there is a duty to ensure that they do not become sensationalised. I can recall past reports where we were told of a full scale riot at Shipquay Street only for eyewitness to tell a totally different story. We have also had reports of sectarian incidents which later turned out not to be sectarian," she said.

Ms Anderson says she intends to raise the reporting of such incidents at the next meeting of the Policing Board.

PSNI Inspector Trevor McKeown, meanwhile, has denied claims that his officers' response to the situation was heavy-handed. "Certainly we were not being heavy-handed. We were noting names and we were gathering evidence of what exactly was going on," he said.

"I think that, rather than being heavy-handed, we did quite a good job in being able to get 41 petrol bombs off the ground. Petrol bombs are lethal weapons - they can kill somebody and burn property. People can fire them at us, and not necessarily hit us, but hit a house or hit a child instead," he said.