Venue staff receive death threats for axing Andrew Lawrence gig

Andrew Lawrence had several performances cancelled after tweets he sent about England footballers

A comedy venue has received death threats after cancelling a performer's stand-up gig for racist comments he made about England's black footballers.

The Concorde in Eastleigh, Hampshire, called off Andrew Lawrence's show after he tweeted the offensive remarks in the wake of the Euro 2020 final on Sunday.

However, it has now received an email warning staff they had "picked the wrong side" and risked being stabbed and attacked with hammers.

Police said they were investigating.

The Concorde has reported the email to police

As well as threats of violence against staff, the message warned of arson attacks, food being contaminated and vehicles in the car park being vandalised.

"You will be financially ruined," said the email, which was signed off by a person identifying themselves only as "Gordon".

The email continued: "The Concorde Club will make a magnificent charred ruin."

It claimed the threats were justified because the hotel and gig venue had been "cowardly" and "joined a witch hunt to ruin a man's career".

The Concorde Club was one of a number of venues across the country to cancel shows Mr Lawrence was due to be performing, as part of his UK tour.

Club director Jamie Mathieson told the BBC he was shocked by the content of the email

Jamie Mathieson, director of The Concorde, wrote an email to customers that said the "disgusting" threats had left staff feeling "shaken".

"Sometimes I despair at some people in the world," he added.

"Further to our difficulties, our staff have now been subjected to threats of the most evil kind."

A Hampshire Constabulary spokesman confirmed the force had received reports of malicious communications and threats to kill members of staff.

"The investigation is in the early stages and as such police inquiries are ongoing at this time," he added.

Mr Lawrence's Twitter account was deleted after his posts on Sunday. He had identified England's black players as the reason for the team losing to Italy in a penalty shootout.

His agent, RBM Comedy, confirmed it was no longer representing him.

The BBC has been unable to reach Mr Lawrence for comment.