Community hub overwhelmed by peaceful rally

About 3,000 showed up to protect the building from a rumoured anti-immigration protest

The boss of the building at the centre of a city's show of unity has thanked the thousands of locals who stood up to defend it from a planned protest.

More than 3,000 people gathered around The Beacon in Newcastle's West End on Wednesday night over fears the building's immigration advice service would be targeted by anti-immigration demonstrators.

The rumoured protest did not materialise, however, and instead a crowd of people showing "support and solidarity" gathered.

Graeme Williams, partnership director of the Centre West charity which owns the building, said he was overwhelmed by the volume of support and a "carnival atmosphere" after days of worry.

"We expected to have some people [for a counter-protest] but I did not expect the kind of massive level of support and solidarity from the community we had," he said.

On Wednesday, Mr Williams had been liaising with police over efforts to protect the area.

Northumbria Police cancelled officers' rest days and told the public that "every deployable officer in uniform" was out in the community.

The peaceful gathering saw people celebrate Newcastle's diversity

The £6m office, conference and community centre was opened by the Duke of Kent in 2012 and is a flagship building in the West End, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Williams said: "I was out speaking to people in the crowd and everything was very good-natured.

"It was more of a carnival atmosphere, especially when you compare it to what we have been seeing on the TV."

The show of unity in Newcastle was just one of many taking place across the country after days of riots in the aftermath of the killing of three girls in Southport.

In response to the scene outside of the Beacon, North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said: "Racism has no place in our North East. This is the message sent to rioters and thugs and the violent far right from Newcastle."

Mr Williams said he wanted to thank people for turning up and and supporting the community, adding the crowd showed Newcastle in "all of its diversity".