GIVE PEACE A CHANCE...

COUNTER-PROTESTERS IN DEFIANT CALL FOR AN END TO HATRED

- CHRIS SLATER, ANDREW BARDSLEY, THOMAS GEORGE, NICOLE WOOTTON-CANE AND JAMES HOLT

GREATER Manchester was braced for the worst. Protests had been planned across the region, and the rest of the UK.

Police had been preparing to respond to more than 100 planned demonstrations and potentially around 30 more counter-protests last night. Unrest was widely expected.

Patrols were increased in Bolton, Oldham, Wigan and Cheadle, Stockport. Shops and businesses closed early, boards were hammered to the outside of supermarkets.

As the planned start time of 8pm drew nearer, the tension increased.

But then something unexpected happened.

Braced for the possibility of violent disorder, hundred-strong crowds of defiant counter-protesters turned out to send a bold statement to all those spreading hate. And there was one simple message that rippled through the boroughs of Greater Manchester on Wednesday night.

It was the moving words of one Oldham resident, who stood among the crowds calling to an end to racism, that summed up their message: "We all breathe the same air." There had been far-right protests planned across Greater Manchester, at immigration offices in Bolton, Cheadle, Wigan and Oldham, as well as false speculation of 'riots' in the city centre, forcing businesses to close early. Instead, counter-protesters turned out in their hundreds to reclaim the streets of the region and the UK. Holding banners and standing united, they called out for end to racism and hatred.

In Cheadle, a huge crowd definitely stood together; waving anti-racism posters as they marched through nearby streets close to the immigration offices they thought would be targeted. There too, had been planned protests from far-right groups, which have caused scenes of unrest and disorder across the UK in recent days. A number of police resources were deployed to the area to maintain order, but the scenes remained that of calmness and unity throughout the evening.