Up to 3,000 attended Free Palestine rally in Preston

Saturday's march and rally on the Flag Market passed off without incident and no arrests.

One of the organisers, Mukhtar Master, said the rally was organised in full consultation with the authorities.

He said: "The number of people that turned out reflected the strength of feeling about what is happening in Palestine "

Mr Master said risk assessments were done and face masks were offered to those who did not wear them, even though there was no compulsion to

do so outdoors.

"It was a covid compliant demonstration," he said.

Coun Matthew Brown, Leader of Preston City Council, said: “Marches and demonstrations are a fundamental right of a democratic country to protest issues both here in the UK and around the world.

“However, it is vital that occasions like this cause minimal disruption to businesses and residents in the city and we worked closely with Lancashire Police in the run up to the demonstration to this end.

“We also worked closely with the organisers to ensure their planning, including traffic management, was robust and that a covid risk assessment had been carried out.

"We were satisfied with their plans and were pleased that the event was well organised and went ahead without incident.”

The rally was part of a worldwide demonstration of feeling against the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

A ceasefire has now been agreed.

An estimated 180,000 attended a similar Free Palestine rally in London.