By Michael Holmes
You can also read this article on The Blackpool Lead

Fears of more disorder in Blackpool amid nationwide protests went mostly unrealised last night.

It comes after an army of 6,000 riot police officers was put on standby to respond to more than 100 planned protests and potentially around 30 more counter-protests yesterday evening.

One national newspaper said it would be Britain’s biggest policing operation, with officers from 41 out of 43 forces in England and Wales deployed.

And one police source told the PA news agency yesterday: “Today is probably going to be the busiest day of the week, into the evening. Tonight, we think it’s looking like a credible picture. We are preparing for activity across 41 forces.”

Details of the “Enough is enough” gatherings were widely shared on social media, with demonstrators urged to “mask up” by a far-right Telegram channel, according to one national newspaper.

Immigration centres were said to be targets, while an “arson manual” was also reportedly shared on an online forum.

Precautionary measures were taken at the Enterprise Centre in South Shore, which is host to an immigration law firm and was named on the internet as a possible protest location, it is understood.

In the hours before the demo was due to get under way, it was unclear as to what would transpire, though one political source was told to expect a significant police presence at several sites in the resort, including at the seafront Metropole Hotel, where the previous government chose to house asylum seekers.

But by 7.55pm, the only sirens came from a passing ambulance. There was an insignificant crowd, made up mostly of teenagers and bystanders.

Police cars routinely drove past and occasionally stopped but there was no constant presence prior to 8pm, though private security vehicles were parked nearby.

Windows on the glass-fronted Enterprise Centre had not been boarded up, a possible sign that perhaps intelligence - or a lack of it - had led to the conclusion that no serious disorder was expected.

“There are more YouTubers than protesters,” one bystander quipped.

At about 8.30pm, amidst a crowd gathered down the road, near to the roundabout junction with Waterloo Road, under the watchful eye of three police officers on foot, a bottle was smashed on the ground.

Minutes later, as a man stood beside the road clearing away the glass, a police van pulled up and several officers appeared from nowhere, tackled and detained him. As the crowd jeered, he was put in the back of a van. This was one of two arrests that took place last night.