Residents thanked following another peaceful night across Cheshire

Police are thanking residents for their continued support following another peaceful night across the county.

While there were widespread rumours in relation to planned protests, none of these materialised and there were no reports of any violent disorder in Cheshire.

Chief Superintendent Jon Betts said:

“We understand the uncertainty and worry that people are feeling due to the recent disorder seen elsewhere in the country.  This has been largely fuelled by the widespread sharing of misinformation online, much of which has been created for the purpose of causing fear and inciting intolerable hate.

“It has been humbling over recent days as we have seen our communities of all faiths pull together and support each other, and I want to thank residents for their continued support.

“We remain fully prepared to deal with any disorder should it occur, and our advice to residents and businesses is to remain calm and to try to go about your every-day life.

“I would also urge residents not to share any of the malicious or inaccurate information which has been posted on social media platforms. These messages have only been posted in order to cause fear, hate and disorder in our communities.”

While there have been no reports of any violent disorder in Cheshire, the force has made a number of arrests for hate crime and inciting hatred.

Chief Superintendent Jon Betts added:

“Since the start of the disorder in other areas of the UK we have been clear that we will not tolerate this kind of behaviour in Cheshire.

“We have also been clear that those who attempt to incite violence and hate in our communities will also be held account.

“Since the start of the week we have already arrested and charged a number of people for a variety of offences linked to the recent unrest.

“These have included people posting hateful messages online, people attempting to incite violence and people who have been verbally abusive to minority groups in our communities.

“As we move forward, we will continue to take this approach, with extensive resources in place to ensure that robust action can be taken against anyone who breaks the law.”