Nearly 1,000 protesters have been involved in disorder after a protest in one of England’s best-known seaside resorts.
Bottles were thrown at police, as officers struggled to contain the demonstrators, who were mainly from far-right groups, in Blackpool.
Some demonstrators were seen making racist gestures and heard shouting racist abuse as they were held back by police horses and dogs.
A number of people were arrested in connection with the disorder.
Protesters initially gathered near Blackpool cenotaph but proceeded through the town’s streets, forcing police to cordon off much of the town centre by early evening.
The protest coincided with the resort’s annual Rebellion punk festival and some of those attending staged a counter-protest.
It led to a tense stand-off between the two groups, in which chairs, bottles and planks of wood were thrown.
Outside St John’s Church, one man fell to the ground and needed medical attention and a number of glass bottles were smashed against the church walls.
After clashes died down, a later flare-up saw about 40 protesters kettled by police, with several of them being arrested.
Lancashire Police said there had also been protests in Preston and Blackburn and it had introduced dispersal orders in all three areas.
The force said it had made “more than 20” arrests across the county in connection with the protests, with people being held on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon, police assault, possession of a bladed article, obstructing police, conspiracy to commit violent disorder and failing to adhere to a dispersal order.
A representative added that no officers had been injured in the operation.
“In Blackpool, we have witnessed some mindless thuggery from individuals, who we believe to be from outside of the county, intent on causing issues in our communities,” he said.
“We have also seen some small pockets of tension elsewhere in the county, but, thanks to a robust partnership response to our policing plan, this was swiftly dealt with.
“I would like to thank the good people of our communities for their support.”
In a statement on X, Blackpool South MP Chris Webb said he was “angered to see senseless violence and disorder on the streets of my hometown”.
“The people responsible are harming residents and damaging livelihoods,” he said.
Blackpool was one of a number of towns and cities across England which saw unrest.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she would work with police forces to help ensure “consequences, arrests and prosecutions” for those responsible and warned that anyone engaging in “unacceptable disorder” would pay the price.
The protests came in the wake of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class being fatally stabbed in Southport on Monday.
Violence erupted the following evening in the Merseyside resort, with police blaming far-right groups.
False claims have spread online that the person responsible was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat and a Muslim.
Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, from Banks in Lancashire, has been charged with three counts of murder, 10 attempted murders and possession of a curved kitchen knife.
The 17-year-old, who was born to Rwandan parents in Cardiff and moved to the Southport area in 2013, has no known links to Islam.
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