Graves vandalised and Blackpool thugs admit guilt
Plus: Police prepare for more disorder and woman falls through pier
Hello and welcome to today’s edition of The Lancashire Lead. Again, we’re forced to focus on the shameful activities of so called protesters who have acted far beyond any justification.
The fallout of Blackpool’s violent scenes has continued with the arrests and court appearances of the first offenders - though expect more suspects to be detained once all the video footage is combed through. So far, 22 people have been arrested in connection with disorder across the county over the weekend, of which 20 are linked to Blackpool.
Frustratingly, there remain rumours that more disorder could follow with further ‘protests’ said to be planned in areas including Blackpool. The Blackpool Lead has the latest on those so-called protests linked to the resort and the fact the language used in promoting them has been withheld gives you an indication of the despicable motivations and intent involved.
Lancashire Constabulary bosses say the force remains ready to tackle any such problems. Assistant Chief Constable Phil Davies yesterday said:
“We are monitoring information at a local and national level around possible disruption, enabling us to have the right level of resources on duty to respond to any incidents safely and robustly in Lancashire, where required to do so. Additional officers have been identified and are on standby if required.
“We will not stand by if disorder begins, or vandalism takes place. Arrests will be made either immediately or retrospectively.
“To those seeking to commit these offences, let this be a message to you: we will identify you, we will find you, and we will bring you to justice.
“We continue to work with communities and partners to ensure we are ready to respond to any concerns or incidents and have been grateful for the public’s support.
“We would encourage people to go about their business as normal. We continue to police Lancashire as usual and as always, the priority is public safety.”
If the scenes we’ve seen across the county haven’t been shameful enough already, it’s hard to countenance what happened in Burnley. There, Muslim graves were vandalised with paint in an act which was described by Councillor Afrasiab Anwar as "evil" and intended to "provoke racial tensions".
Once again, the community came together to prove good can prevail over evil, with the Lancashire Telegraph reporting of a clean up operation which saw people of various faiths team up to repair the damage.
“Imagine that if this was a grave for one of your loved ones? Nothing will divide us, and your evil actions are not welcome here. I encourage the people of Burnley to seek the common good and to act with love and peace.”
Father Alex Frost and Kat Gregory-Witham
A specialist deep clean carried out by the council will take place in addition to the volunteer efforts. Meanwhile, a police investigation has been launched and anyone with information can contact 101 quoting log 0982 of August 5.
If you want to know what kind of impact the protests and riots are having in unaffected areas, look over to Skelmersdale. Yesterday evening, shops and the cinema in the Concourse Shopping Centre closed earlier amid rumours of planned action. In the end, nothing did materialise but the impacts on business revenue, on people’s mindsets and on their sense of safety and wellbeing were evident.
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In other Blackpool news, there were extraordinary and distressing scenes as a woman fell through the boards of its Central Pier all the way down to beach level. The incident sparked a significant emergency service response and the pier was evacuated due to the safety concerns.
Lancashire Police confirmed the woman was taken to hospital but did not give details of her injuries. A coastguard spokesperson said:
At 16:33, the team was called out after an individual sustained injuries in a fall at Central Pier.
The team supported North West Air Ambulance Charity paramedics who arrived by road from their base at Blackpool airport and Blackpool beach patrol, before extracting the casualty on our stretcher with the help of Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (Official) to an ambulance where they were taken to the next level of care.
The team also assisted in the evacuation of the pier and maintained a perimeter while the area was made safe before standing down at 18:45.
We wish the person involved a speedy recovery.
You may be getting a sense of déjà vu reading these devolution updates and the quick summary of this one would be - there’s more disagreements. In recent weeks we’ve seen Lancashire new MPs coming out in support of revisiting the previously agreed deal and instead including a mayor as part of a better funded package.
Local democracy reporter Paul Faulkner this week published a state of play for the various local councils. As it stands, the three upper-tier councils (who hold the strongest cards) and the two Conservative-run district councils want to maintain the current deal, while the rest want to ask for a better offering.
According to Paul, the leaders of the eight Labour-run districts – Preston, Chorley, South Ribble, West Lancashire, Lancaster, Rossendale, Hyndburn and Pendle, along with coalition-controlled Burnley – have written to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner calling for “a more ambitious devolution settlement” and asking for help to devise it.
You can read the full story here.
Credit goes to Beyond Radio - consistently an excellent source of information on Eden Project Morecambe - for this update. The radio station and news site reports that the targeted opening date for the major development has been pushed back to 2027/28 with the new government encouraging “realism” in the timescales.
You can read the full story here.
❌ Scammers are exploiting Jay Slater’s funeral by selling access to non-existent live streams (Sky News).
🍾 The firm behind Rawtenstall Market has denied greed accusations over plans to install a central bar (LancsLive).
👞 A family shoe shop is set to close down after more than a century in Lancaster’s city centre (Beyond Radio).
🚒 Holidaymakers and festivalgoers were left stranded after hotel was condemned and immediately shut down in Blackpool (Blackpool Gazette).
🏗️ Plans have been submitted to build more than 150 affordable homes in Blackburn (Lancashire Telegraph).
🧑🚒 A firefighter whose dad worked in the same station and whose son has followed in their footsteps is retiring after 40 years of service (Blackpool Gazette).
🧹 Council workers in Preston are visiting the street by a privately owned former orphanage to clear debris falling from the crumbling building (Blog Preston).
👩⚕️ A nurse who claimed £3k for shifts she never worked was made to pay the cash back and could be struck off (LancsLive).
💸 Investors in a block of student apartments were almost left £10m out of pocket (Blog Preston).
🏫 A Lancaster school has paid tribute following the death of a charismatic teacher who set up a much-celebrated charity (Beyond Radio).
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