POLICE tonight reassured residents they were ready to prevent a repeat of the disorder in Gloucester last night.

As of 10.30pm there were no confirmed reports of disturbances in the county.

Police tonight issued this statement:

Police officers are out in force in Gloucester tonight to provide public reassurance and ensure there is no repeat of the events seen in the city last night.

Gloucestershire’s Assistant Chief Constable Kevin Lambert said: “I can understand that people will be feeling unsettled but I can reassure them that we have a significant number of officers on duty tonight to tackle any issues that may arise.

“We have not had any confirmed reports of incidents other than those we would expect to deal with on an ordinary Wednesday night, but we are constantly monitoring the situation and any incidents that should arise will be tackled robustly.

“We have again called upon colleagues from other forces to assist us. We are grateful to those forces for that assistance and also to our own officers and staff and Special Constables for all the work they are doing.

“I can also reassure people that policing in other parts of the county is continuing as normal and I’d like to say that we are very encouraged by all the messages of support we have been receiving.”

The number of people in custody in connection with last night’s events remains at 14 and more arrests are anticipated.

Earlier another two people have been arrested in connection with the disorder in Gloucester overnight. They are a 19-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl.

This brings the total number of arrests to 12 so far with 10 males from the city, aged between 16 and 40, were already in custody. It follows last night's disturbance which saw shops vandalised and a former Gloscat building torched.

This afternoon, Assistant Chief Constable Ivor Tywdell said: "Our officers are working through a large amount of intelligence and information from the community and as a result a number of arrests will happen throughout the day and coming days.

"I appreciate the disorder seen in Gloucester has not been on the same scale as elsewhere in the country but the damage and disruption caused to local people is undoubtedly very upsetting and frightening.

"Around 60 people, sadly most of which we believe to be local, were causing problems last night, putting lives at risk in the community in which they live."

He added: "Clearly the community is as appalled as we are about the behaviour of these mindless thugs."

Today, the clear up has begun as the communities in Barton and the city centre come to terms with the disorder which saw more than 200 police officers involved with some on horseback.

Police are also urging anyone with footage of the disruption to get in contact in a bid to catch those responsible.

Community leaders today reassured people that Gloucester was getting back to normal.

Emergency services worked through the night to combat the trouble which started in the Eastgate and city centre areas of Gloucester.

All agencies met yesterday to plan for any eventuality and this morning, as residents are waking up, the clear up operation had already been completed so there was minimal damage  left. 

Community leaders from both Gloucester City Council and Gloucestershire County Council will be visiting affected areas today to reassure people and help allay fears.

A joint statement on behalf of Councillor Paul James, leader of Gloucester City Council and Councillor Mark Hawthorne, leader of Gloucestershire County Council read: "Last night's events are extremely disappointing although nothing like the scale of the London riots.

"A small number of local people have turned on their own communities for no reason other than to copy sad events taking place elsewhere in the country.

"However, we are talking about a small minority of people whose actions have been condemned by the communities they live in.

"Last night we saw a rapid, coordinated response from our police and fire services which kept the damage and disorder to a minimum and that should be commended.

"Let's be clear – we will come down hard on these people - so far, 10 arrests have been made and the police actively pursuing several leads with a view to arresting many more people this morning and throughout the day.

"During the night and earlier this morning, the city council has worked hard to clean-up the damage and with the county council this work will continue today.

"We will be meeting with community  leaders to provide reassurance that there will be a show of strength on the streets of Gloucester once again tonight and for as long as it is needed."

At the height, the fire at the disused Brunswick College building involved eight fire engines and 40 firefighters.

Crews worked for two hours to bring the fire under control. Today ,fire crews will be working with colleagues at Gloucester City Council's Building Control to secure the site and determine the next steps. However, the building was due for demolition and these plans will be now assessed.

A number of other smaller fires, including bins and two cars, were also quickly extinguished.

As well as the crews tackling fires in Gloucester, crews were still available for the rest of the county, should they have been needed.

Chief fire officer, Jon Hall, said: "Our crews worked superbly in stressful conditions and were well supported by police colleagues helping maintain security around our operations.

"We have been working closely with the Police undertaking detailed pre-planning and this has certainly paid dividends and helped us deal with everything that was presented to us with no damage to appliances or equipment and, most importantly, no injury to staff.

 

"I want to reassure the community that we will continue to work closely with the Police over coming days and continue to ensure that emergency services work together to support our communities and keep people safe."

It is understood Gloucestershire's Chief Constable has returned from his leave today and will also be visiting the area.

Officers from Avon and Somerset Police joined the county force to tackle the disruption yesterday which began after 11pm with reports of youths roaming the streets. There was a police helicopter in operation as well.

According to eyewitnesses, some of the police force's vans had to pull down their riot shields to deal with the trouble and there were reports of shops being vandalised and rocks and bottles thrown at officers' vehicles.

Earlier this motning, Deputy Chief Constable Mick Matthews said: "What we have seen taking place in Gloucester overnight have been copycat incidents which do not appear to have been coordinated in anyway. While we had hoped this type of criminality would not take place here, we were well prepared, as were our colleagues in partner agencies," he said.

"Local people have, we believe, been the perpetrators, committing offences within their own communities. While the disorder here has not been on the same scale as elsewhere in the country, involving perhaps 60 people at most, it has undoubtedly been very disturbing and is causing concern for local people. I would like to reassure people that we and our partners have been working together to deal with this, and we have control of the situation.

 "This type of behaviour is completely unacceptable and we are now identifying those responsible, arresting them and will be putting them through the criminal justice system."

Among the businesses affected as King's Convenience store, in Tredworth, which was hit by vandals. Rmours Argos, HMV and Primark were targeted have been quashed and they were all trading today.

The Eastgate Street Shopping Centre is also open for business as usual today. But both William Hill bookmakers, in Tredworth High Street, and Coral betting shop, in Barton Street, were vandalised.

Turbofruits09 captured this footage of mounted police officers:

It is believed, the Westgate bar, in Westgate Street, was also on lockdown  following reports of the disturbances towards closing time.

In the early hours, as police were still on the streets, a force spokesman Chris Jackson said: "Initially the force began to receive reports of anti social behaviour and vandalism, including a bin being set alight in Barton Street.

"Within the next hour groups of youths, some with their faces covered, were reported to be causing other disruption elsewhere in the city, including attacking shop windows in the city centre."

He added: "Police officers have not suffered any injuries, however a number of bottles and rocks have been thrown at police vehicles."

It comes as there was more looting in cities across the country including Manchester, Nottingham and Wolverhampton overnight. It is the fourth night of violence and civil unrest in Britain following the first scenes of rioting and looting in Tottenham, in London, on Saturday night.

Police would like to ask anyone with visual evidence of the disturbances, such as photographs and video/phone footage, to e-mail that evidence to police at callcentre@gloucestershire.police.uk.

Anyone who has any information about the disorder or knows someone involved is urged to call Gloucestershire Police on 0845 090 1234, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

But the disruption is taking its toll with Gloucester City  Homes has decided to cancel its award ceremony to recognise the best gardens in the city which was due to take place at 6pm.

Today, MP for Gloucester, Richard Graham issued the following statement: "Last night was bad news for our city. Hooliganism on the streets: a fire in the old Gloscat, some bins burnt on Barton Street and three or four shop windows badly damaged.

 

"More worrying is the invisible damage – negative headlines in national papers and the impact of that on investors looking at putting millions of pounds into regeneration projects and new jobs; and the fear of people living here that next time it could be their windows at home.

 

"Let's be clear. The people who did these things live with us. They're not all youngsters – there was a 40 year old among the 10 arrested so far. It is incredibly disappointing to see people from our own community responsible for mindless damage to our (and their) city.

 

"So my message to anyone involved in last night's troubles in Gloucester is "do not damage our city and your own future any further - stop now".

 

"There are some positives. I'm relieved that no one was hurt, no home damaged and no store looted. The only building damaged was the old Gloscat, empty and scheduled for demolition. The clean up early this morning was very quick. And the police and fire teams did a good job in difficult circumstances.

 

"Early this morning I had further meetings with both to ensure that adequate resources are in place for tonight. And the Chief Constable, the City Council Leader and I will be walking about the city this morning to talk to people, to reassure them and to spread the message that it's business as usual.

 

"Gloucester is a safe place, we don't expect this violence and we absolutely don't need it. Your city needs your help to spread the word that it's not cool, that there are plenty of opportunities for all – the Barton Jobs Fair that I organised only recently had over 2,000 jobs and apprenticeships available – and that last night was a major step back for the regeneration of Gloucester. So Let's Be Proud of Our City and not let a small handful of vandals destroy life in Gloucester.

 

"Do e-mail me with your thoughts on how to prevent this happening again."