Police imposed emergency dispersal order to clear Harborough town centre after 'low-level' trouble broke out as pubs re-opened

Police imposed an emergency dispersal order to clear Market Harborough town centre of drinkers late on Saturday night after “low-level” trouble broke out as pubs re-opened.

Senior officers acted as they dealt with a “number of incidents” on the High Street as people flocked back to pubs for the first time in over three months following the Covid-19 lockdown.

A man of 21 was arrested after police received reports that a woman had been assaulted and a man was attacked and injured.

A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman said: “Following a number of incidents of low-level public disorder reported in Market Harborough town centre yesterday evening (Saturday 4 July) a Section 34 Dispersal Order was authorised giving officers the power to require people to leave the area to reduce the risk of causing harassment, alarm or distress to the local community and to also reduce the risk of any further public disorder.

“The order was in place between 11pm (Saturday night) and 7am this morning (Sunday).

“Working with local licensees once the order was put in place the majority of those gathered left the area peacefully.”

She said that several local pubs closed early as the disturbance flared.

“To prevent any further incidents of disruption a number of premises made the decision to close their doors early.

“We continue to work closely with partners, business owners and the local community to address concerns around anti-social behaviour in the area,” said the police spokeswoman.

“Reports were received of a woman having been assaulted in the town last night and enquiries are continuing into the allegation.

“As a result of these enquiries a 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault after a man was subsequently injured.

“The suspect remains in police custody.”

Saluting his officers, Leicestershire’s top cop, chief constable Simon Cole, said today: “Sadly, there were, however, a number of incidents last night too which you will have seen.

“These are, of course, being taken very seriously and full investigative work is underway.

“Last night also saw a dispersal order placed in Market Harborough centre.

“This was put in place as a response to incidents happening in the area.”

A spokesman for Wetherspoon, which owns the Sugar Loaf pub on the High Street, said police were forced to intervene after closing down the “pub opposite”.

Spokesman Eddie Gershon said: "Late on Saturday night the police shut down the pub opposite The Sugar Loaf and a number of customers from that pub jumped into the queue for the Wetherspoon pub.

"The police dealt with the situation and said there were no questions raised about the way the Wetherspoon pub was run.

"They said they were very happy with the way the manager and her team were running the pub.”

He stressed: "There were no issues in The Sugar Loaf at any time during the re-opening."

The disturbance comes days after over 100 people gathered for a fight at Little Bowden Recreation Ground, off Northampton Road, Market Harborough, on Friday June 26, terrifying local residents.

As we reported last week, police had to impose a 36-hour dispersal order at the popular park after young men fought with iron bars and other weapons.

Today Cllr Phil King, leader of Harborough District Council, told the Harborough Mail: “This latest incident is simply unbelievable.

“I am immensely disappointed - words fail me.

“The people who were involved in this trouble need to have a long hard look at themselves in the mirror today and ask themselves why they did it.”

The shocked Conservative council leader insisted Market Harborough is not a “rough and tumble place”.

“The police had no other option but to act as they did and use the tools they have got, such as the emergency dispersal order, to bring the situation under control.

“This just isn’t good enough.

“I wouldn’t say that this kind of incident drags Market Harborough’s good name through the gutter,” said Cllr King.

“But it’s obviously not the kind of news that we want associated with our fine market town.

“It’s an utter waste of police resources.

“I cannot understand why people have to go out and drink to excess, losing control of themselves, just because the pubs have re-opened.

“People have been allowed to drink at home – it’s not as if they’ve been denied drink for the last three months.

“It’s simply not acceptable that a minority should go out, frighten other paying, innocent customers and give the police more trouble to deal with.

“I do not want to see a repeat of this type of late-night behaviour in Market Harborough town centre – it will not be tolerated.

“These pillocks are putting it all at risk as we try to rebuild and re-boost our town centre economy.

“It’s vital that people go back into our town centre on a night for the sake of our many places of hospitality.

“Restaurants, hotels, pubs and bars are desperate to get back up and running again after the lockdown.

“But trouble like this has a huge knock-on effect.

“Our pub licensees, too, have a responsibility to act responsibly.

“I certainly do not want to see any repeat of this sort of disturbance.

“We need to fully understand over the next few days what happened here to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Cllr Phil Knowles, who leads Harborough council’s Liberal Democrats, told the Mail: “I’m absolutely appalled.

“There is no need for this type of behaviour – it’s totally unacceptable.

“It will not be tolerated.

“I’ve lived in Market Harborough for 38 years.

“And I can’t remember our police having to issue two emergency dispersal orders within days of each other here before.

“This is unprecedented.”

He added: “I sincerely hope that police will be able to identify the perpetrators and that the action taken against them will deter others.

“Market Harborough is a beautiful town to live in and to visit.

“So this is a wholly unacceptable situation.”

Stressing that pubs in Leicester are still shut following the new city lockdown, Cllr Knowles said: “I want to know if anyone involved in this trouble came from Leicester or the area covered by the new lockdown around the city.

“Can the police tell us that?

“I’d like to know because this will be very important intelligence for us going forward and has to be taken into account and addressed.

“But the police did a brilliant job to tackle this incident last night and we all owe them and the other blue light services our immense thanks.”