rioting across England and Belfast led to shops being vandalised and looted, hitting footfall for retailers and neighbouring businesses, figures show.
Footfall on UK high streets declined by an average 4.8% between Sunday and Wednesday from the same period the week before, according to the real estate software firm MRI Software. This compares with a smaller fall of 2.7% in all UK retail destinations, including shopping centres and out-of-town retail parks.
On Wednesday, the number of people on high streets dropped by 7.5% as shoppers were deterred by an expected new wave of rioting and counter-protests planned for the day.
Northern England and Yorkshire felt the impact of the disorder the most, with footfall down by 12.9% between Sunday and Wednesday, and in the West Midlands footfall was down by 10.6% on the previous week.
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Elon Musk using the social media platform he owns to spread fake news and misinformation again.
a Labour councillor was suspended after video which appeared to show him calling for rioters’ throats to be cut was shared on social media.
A 29-year-old man who attended a protest against fascism in Plymouth has been jailed for 18 months after throwing missiles and swinging his motorbike helmet to knock a boy off his bike.
Lucas Ormond Skeaping, 29, of Tavistock admitted a charge of violent disorder.
The defendant’s legal team said Skeaping was “against fascism”, “abhors any form of racism” and had lost his employment at a bicycle company as a result of the incident.
The prosecution said the man’s own GoPro camera had captured him throwing a full 500ml bottle of Coca-Cola and a rock.
PA Media reports Judge Robert Linford, sentencing, said “you came to protest and to do so peacefully, but things rapidly deteriorated”.
Police in Nottingham said they made no arrests during a protest held just outside the city centre on Wednesday evening. PA Media reports Nottinghamshire police said patrols will continue in the city over the weekend, but confirmed they were not acting on specific intelligence.
Source: theguardian.com
