Crowds gather in Preston's vigil for peace

The vigil, led by Preston Council Leader Coun Matthew Brown and the Vicar of Preston, The Ven Michael Everitt, took place on the square on Wednesday with a number of multi-fatih representatives in attendence.

It also saw former Preston Mayor, Coun Brian Rollo, and the new ccabinet member for communities, Coun Nweeda Khan, pay their respects.

The event was also in solidarity with 61 Palestinians killed during protests in Gaza last week and those who died in the Grenfell Tower tragedy last June.

Taking to Twitter, Coun Brown said he was “privileged to attend and introduce the peace vigil to remember innocent lives lost in Gaza, Manchester and elsewhere”.

He added: “We wanted to take the politics out of the situation. It was about remembering the loss of life. We light candles which was really nice. It was a small and quiet event.”

Nadeem Ashfaq from Islamic community group The Light Foundation attended the event.

Mr Ashfaq said: “Thank you so much to the wonderful people of Preston for attending, and to our council for leading the path in showing the world that we are committed and united against all types of evil.”