MP brands resort disorder 'violent thuggery'

Crowds scuffled with police in Blackpool during the disturbances

An MP has condemned disorder which swept across Blackpool as "violent thuggery".

Twenty people were arrested in the Lancashire resort after a mob of nearly 1,000 people were thought to have been involved in disturbances in the town.

Bottles and chairs were thrown and police are investigating reports of looting in Houndshill Shopping Centre as the unrest escalated on Saturday.

Blackpool South MP Chris Webb said: "My message to them is you have been caught on camera, we have your faces, you'll be getting a knock on the door soon."

He said the disorder forced businesses fearing for the safety of their staff and customers to close, while Deputy Chief Constable Sam Mackenzie described the scenes as "disgraceful".

Police had to control the crowds

He said those held were all from Lancashire so were "local people who seem intent on causing harm to their own communities".

Crowds initially gathered near Blackpool cenotaph and proceeded through the town’s streets, forcing police to cordon off much of the town centre by early evening.

It 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.

The Deputy Chief Constable said: "What has that behaviour got to do with any form of protest?

"It is just outright criminality."

Cost to businesses

He said there was a dedicated team examining CCTV footage and expects there to be further arrests.

Labour MP Mr Webb said: "We have zero tolerance for this and you will be prosecuted.

"These people do not speak for Blackpool."

He condemned those who came to Blackpool "for a fight" rather than a peaceful protest.

"They were coming here to smash up the town centre. We saw that with the looting that went on in Houndshill, we saw that with windows smashed," he said.

"This cost local businesses a huge amount of money because they had to close fearing for their employees and their customers."

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Martine Hagel, manager of the North Pier, said she closed the gates to the attraction but allowed families to enter as trouble flared.

"When they were running round like they were we directed families to get on the pier and shut the gates just to make sure they were safe as they had no idea where those people were going to run to," she said.

Blackpool Council leader Lynn Williams said a "minority" had caused the issues in the town and the town's residents were a "resilient lot" who would return to normality and "continue to welcome everyone".

"It's not Blackpool, it's not our people, it's not our town," she said.

There was also an arrest during a protest in Blackburn as well as an arrest at a demonstration in Preston, Lancashire Police said.

The force said 18 of those held were later released on bail while one had been released under investigation and three others remained in custody.

Unrest has developed across towns and cities in England ever since the Southport attack in which three young girls were killed.