'These mindless morons will not get away with it' - Harborough District Council leader's angry response to the the terrifying scenes at a Harborough park at the weekend

Harborough's council leader has blasted “mindless morons” after a terrifying mass brawl erupted in a Market Harborough park at the weekend.

Cllr Phil King hit out after over 100 people gathered for a fight at Little Bowden Recreation Ground, leaving local residents horrified.

As we reported over the weekend, police imposed an emergency 36-hour dispersal order after young men fought with iron bars and other weapons in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Today Cllr King, who leads Harborough District Council, told the Harborough Mail: “I am so angry that I can’t really tell you what I think about these mindless morons because the Harborough Mail is a family newspaper.

“So let’s just say this.

“These moronic yobs are engaging in mindless, reckless behaviour – and we will not stand for it.

“My message to them is simple – you will not get away with it.”

The Conservative council leader snapped: “Law and order will prevail.

“I cannot believe that louts were taking part in bare knuckle fighting in Market Harborough.

“It beggars belief – it’s incredible.

“It is totally unacceptable and we will not tolerate it.

“We will be pulling out all the stops to make sure there will be no repeat of the disgraceful scenes we witnessed at the weekend.”

Cllr King said police acted swiftly to impose and enforce the 36-hour dispersal zone, effectively sealing off Little Bowden Recreation Ground.

“The police did well to act so quickly.

“I can well understand why local people must be so sick and fed-up of this moronic, vile, debauched behaviour,” he said.

“No doubt this grossly anti-social activity which upsets the entire area was fuelled by far too much drink and drugs.”

Cllr King now aims to hold urgent crisis talks with Insp Siobhan Gorman, who’s in charge of Harborough police, in the next 48 hours.

“We will be having discussions to make sure that we nip this trouble in the bud.

“It’s crucial that we understand how we can tackle this menace together over the next few days and weeks,” he said.

“The police have had a very difficult job to do over the last few months during the Covid-19 lockdown.

“They can’t be everywhere at once.

“But it’s vital that we get on top of this problem now.”

Cllr King said council officers will also be talking to all local retailers selling alcohol over the next few days.

“We will be reminding them of their responsibilities.

“They have to be responsible about who they sell alcohol to,” he warned.

“Shops and other outlets have to remember that they have a licence to sell alcohol – it’s not a right.

“And if people are not behaving responsibly then they could lose their licence.

“This sort of mass gathering is also very worrying from the coronavirus point of view.

“Farr too many people have lost loved ones and been severely affected by Covid-19.

“We could have a tough new lockdown re-imposed up the road in Leicester this week.

“Do these idiots want the lockdown to be imposed here in Market Harborough too?

“It’s still critical that we observe social distancing and measures such as washing our hands.

“But all of that just gets thrown away at moronic, reckless get-togethers like this one.”

Cllr King said the council will now be looking at installing new CCTV cameras at Little Bowden Recreation Ground to step up security.

“We will be looking at anything and everything we can do make the park safe to the public and more secure,” he insisted.

Harborough MP Neil O’Brien told the Mail: “I received a lot of emails on Saturday morning from angry local people about this mayhem.

“It’s very sinister and cannot be tolerated.

“Parents also need to step in to stop their children going to this sort of event – they have to assume and accept responsibility as well.”

Cllr Phil Knowles, leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Harborough council, said: “This has understandably caused real fear in the local community.

“I am absolutely appalled by this incident in the middle of Market Harborough.

“I want to thank the police for their response.

“And I’ll be interested to talk to the police to see if the 36-hour dispersal order will be extended or re-imposed this weekend.”

Cllr Peter James, who represents Little Bowden on Harborough council, said: “It’s very worrying.

“It’s a very serious situation which needs dealing with now.

“I will be talking to council officers to discover what we are doing to tackle this trouble.”

Insp Gorman said as she launched the 36-hour dispersal zone at 7pm on Saturday evening: “I am satisfied on reasonable grounds that the use of these powers may be necessary for the purpose of reducing the likelihood of members of the public in the locality being harassed, alarmed or distressed.

"Youths are causing excessive noise, shouting, playing music within the park, fighting, drinking alcohol and drug taking.

“This causes considerable concern to neighbouring residents.

"Litter is left behind which provides evidence of drinking and drug paraphernalia.

“Smashed glass is often left on the park causing a danger for children and dogs.”

She added: “Youths and young adults have been seen to carry weapons.

“The residents who live on the boundary of the park are fearful and distressed by the actions of the youths and the young adults.

“This has been occurring in the good weather and has escalated.

“On June 26, there were approximately one hundred youths on Little Bowden Park.

“We received numerous calls from the community that serious disorder had taken place involving youths, adults and weapons.

“These reports from local residents were underpinned when discarded weapons were found close to the location where the disorder was reported.

“This caused significant upset and fear in the community due to the numbers of people involved and escalation.

“This has caused fears, concerns and reaction to the incident.”