Police ‘have no power to ban planned Sheffield far-right gathering’

POLICE have “no power” to ban a planned demonstration by the English Defence League (EDL) in Sheffield this weekend, South Yorkshire Police said yesterday.

The force said that they expect the gathering on Saturday to be “peaceful”, but will be “making extra resources available.”

The far-right group is planning to demonstrate in the city after supporters were prevented from placing flowers on the war memorial in memory of murdered soldier Lee Rigby in Barker’s Pool last Saturday.

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Two arrests were made after around 500 members of the public and supporters of Unite Against Fascism (UAF) stopped around 80 members of the EDL marching to the war memorial. A three-hour stand-off ensued.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said yesterday that the force “has no legal power to ban a further proposed gathering”.

He added: “The force is still gathering information about the potential scale of any event but, should it take place it will have an impact on police and other agencies’ resources, with likely disruption for local businesses and members of the public.

“There were challenges to keep the peace last Saturday but officers managed difficult circumstances with no injuries and only two arrests made.”

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The spokesman added: “Feedback from other areas of the country says that if a group feels they have not made their point, they are likely to return to a location and this appears to be the case with the EDL in Sheffield.”