Sunday January 12 2025
Swindon & Wiltshire News
Businesses across the region are closing early and – in some cases – boarding up windows as fears of far-right violence began to spread on Wednesday.
In the Old Market and Easton areas of Bristol – which saw hooligans target a hotel on Saturday night – shops were boarded up in anticipation of more violence.
A list doing the rounds on far-right social media channels listed 40 addresses of law firms that support refugees with asylum applications.
In Swindon, businesses closed early following speculation of violent disorder in the town centre. And in Reading, businesses announced they were closing early.
Many of the closures – especially those of arts centres, museums, and libraries – will scupper the summer holiday plans of schoolchildren and their parents.
Police forces in Avon and Somerset, Wiltshire, and Thames Valley sought to assure residents and workers that there would be a zero-tolerance attitude to violent disorder.
Civic leaders also called for calm and unity.
Image by Tim Mossholder at Pexels
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