'We are working flat out to stop any more late-night trouble breaking out in Harborough town centre this weekend' say police and council leaders

Police chiefs and council leaders are working flat out in a bid to stop any more late-night trouble breaking out in Market Harborough town centre this weekend.

They are gearing up to crack down after fighting erupted in the street outside the Sugar Loaf pub on the High Street late on Saturday night.

Police had to impose an emergency dispersal order to clear the town centre as scores of revellers celebrating pubs re-opening were caught up in the astonishing incident.

Cllr Phil King, who leads Harborough District Council, told the Harborough Mail: “We do not want to see a repeat of the shocking scenes we witnessed here on Saturday night.

“As I said, I am immensely disappointed with the trouble that happened outside pubs in our town centre.

“We will not put up with it.”

The Conservative council leader added: “We are working closely with the police as part of the community safety partnership to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

“Our licensing team is visiting pubs and other licensed premises to talk to them and remind them of their responsibilities.

“We all have to look at what happened at the weekend and we are also reminding our licensees they have to keep good order.

“But we have to remember that there were only two or three premises affected on Saturday night out of all our establishments in the town.”

Cllr King said there was a “flashpoint scuffle” outside the Sugar Loaf after the Nags Head pub on nearby Church Street closed at about 10pm.

“There was a disturbance and police had to issue a dispersal order at about 11pm to deal with it.

“We are looking at how queueing worked for the Sugar Loaf,” he said.

“It all kicked off as drinkers were coming out of the Sugar Loaf to smoke a cigarette on the High Street.

“The smokers were then mingling with people queueing up before going back in again.

“We are now discussing customers being told to smoke in a garden at the back of the pub instead.

“We want to stop this flashpoint going off again this weekend.”

A spokesman for Wetherspoon, which owns the Sugar Loaf, said: “Our customers are able to smoke in an area in the beer garden.

“They did this and did not smoke in the high street as alleged.

“The CCTV at the pub clearly shows this is the case.”

Cllr King appealed to people going out on Friday night and Saturday night to act sensibly.

“We are keen for people to go out and have a good time.

“But do not get carried away,” he implored.

“We are not out of the woods yet when it comes to Covid-19.

“Harborough district hasn’t had any new cases for a few days now – and we want to keep it that way.

“We are getting on top of the coronavirus but the threat is still very much there.

“So let’s not blow it now.

“Keep your distance, follow all the safety guidelines and act responsibly.

“Nobody wants another local lockdown here in Harborough.

“That would be devastating – and people could die.”

Cllr King also exhorted people living in the Leicester lockdown zone to stay there.

“We’ve all seen all the rumours on social media about loads of young people flooding into Market Harborough from Leicester last Saturday night.

“I don’t know if that’s true or not,” he insisted.

“But they are currently restricted to essential travel only.

“And coming here to Market Harborough for a pint or two is not essential travel.”

The council chief also sent his “good wishes” to an 18-year-old Market Harborough woman viciously attacked outside the Sugar Loaf.

“I hate to see violence – especially against young women.

“It’s disgusting and I hope she makes a speedy recovery,” said Cllr King.

“Police will be deploying all their resources to try to make sure we don’t see a repeat.

“We also have CCTV cameras sweeping almost all of the town centre and the weekend’s footage is being studied as we speak.”

His plea for calm and restraint was echoed by Cllr Phil Knowles, who heads up the council’s Liberal Democrats.

“Firstly, we don’t want any more trouble.

“Secondly, we have to remember that the coronavirus is a killer.

“We’ve already had tens of thousands of people in this country die after being infected,” said Cllr Knowles.

“We don’t want that very grim death toll to grow.

“So keep your social distance and remember to leave your name and address with pubs, bars and restaurants when you go in.

“That’s absolutely vital as part of the track and trace process which should help combat this deadly virus.”

Police are still drawing up plans to counter any disorder or anti-social behaviour this weekend.

But the force is almost certain to draft in extra officers and carry out more street patrols as it did last weekend.

Asked about last Saturday night’s trouble, a Leicestershire Police spokeswoman said: “Following a number of incidents of low-level public disorder reported in Market Harborough town centre (on Saturday July 4) 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.

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

She said several pubs shut early.

“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.

A spokesman for Wetherspoon, which owns the Sugar Loaf, 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."