Thwaites: Five arrested over 'trashed' brewery

The arrests were made as part of pre-planned dawn raids

Five men have been arrested over large-scale damage to a Lancashire brewery.

A group of about 100 travellers occupied Thwaites' site in Blackburn on 26 May allegedly causing about £100,000 of damage, according to the owners.

The arrests were made as part of a pre-planned operation which involved police carrying out dawn raids in Leverhulme Park, Bolton.

Lancashire Police said it was continuing to investigate allegations of criminal acts at the brewery.

All those arrested, including two 21-year-olds and a man aged 32, have been arrested on suspicion of burglary and remain in police custody.

Another man, 43, is also held on suspicion of blackmail and a fifth man, 33, has also been arrested on suspicion of shoplifting.

Travellers left the site two days after arriving after an "aggressive stand off", said Thwaites

Assistant Chief Constable Jo Edwards of Lancashire Police said the arrests are "just the latest stage" in an ongoing investigation.

"The incidents at Thwaites over the bank holiday weekend understandably caused a huge amount of upset and anger in the local community and we recognise that," she said.

"We have had a dedicated team of officers working hard behind the scenes to identify those responsible for causing these unacceptable criminal acts."

Police had faced criticism from the brewery and Blackburn MP Kate Hollern for taking two days to force the travellers to leave.

Chief Constable Andy Rhodes apologised for not acting sooner saying there were not enough officers available on a "mega busy bank holiday weekend".

Thwaites said 1,700 pints of beer had been poured away in case of contamination.

After the disorder, the company ended brewing at its Penny Street site.