THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: A St George's Day parade through an inner-city area hit by race riots has been cancelled following police advice.
Community groups had planned to stage the multi-cultural event in Bradford and 1,500 schoolchildren were due to take part.
Many of the youngsters had already made flags of St George to carry on the parade on April 23, which was designed to boost community cohesion.
But last week police and council chiefs told the organisers that the event could not go ahead as planned for 'health and safety' reasons. At a meeting, police demanded a shorter route which avoided two streets at the centre of the race riots in 2001.
As a result, organisers have decided to call off the event, which was due to attract more than 10,000 people.
Bradford City councillor Quasim Khan said: "We were told by the police at the meeting that the original route had not been risk assessed and if we wanted a march to go ahead on that date, St George's Day, we would have to accept a smaller, different route.
"The police officers were getting quite animated, saying things like 'look, this just isn't going to happen'." Police and council officials said they did not have sufficient warning of the event.
However, community leaders planning the parade said the event was blighted because of fears it could stoke up violence. They claimed a police inspector had actually begun the plans for the parade nine months ago. Cancelled on Police Advice: St George's Day Parade through the Bradford Race-Riot Zone >>> By Martin Smith | April 19, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
