Mayor calls for pubs ban for Morecambe war memorial vandals

Residents staged a protest to signal their disgust at the vandalism

A mayor has called for anyone found to have defaced a war memorial with Nazi symbols to be banned from the town's pubs and football club.

Mayor of Lancaster Roger Dennison said he is writing to local licensees and Morecambe FC.

Swastikas, SS symbols, and racist and homophobic abuse appeared in various parts of Morecambe around events including this summer's Pride weekend.

"There needs to be a public reaction to this," the mayor said.

Mr Dennison aired his concerns with the Local Democracy Reporting Service after residents mounted a protest to signal their disgust at the vandalism of Morecambe war memorial.

The protest included a minute's silence in memory of the servicemen of Morecambe and Heysham who died in World War Two, and whose names are featured on the defaced monument.

'Extremely worrying'

Mr Dennison said the attack dishonoured people "who gave their lives fighting fascism".

He added: We need a widespread reaction. I'm going to write to the Licensed Victuallers' Association and Morecambe Football Club on this.

"The swastika and slogan were sprayed on a monument with names of servicemen from this district who died resisting Nazism, which these vandals are trying to espouse.

"I'm worried that there is some degree of organisation and planning with these graffiti incidents. We need to treat it at that level.

"There is no wrong spelling of the words or any other errors. There is planning that has gone into this, which is extremely worrying."

The Licensed Victuallers Association and Morecambe FC have been contacted for a comment.

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