Police issue dispersal order for Boston but insist town protest rumours are untrue

Police have issued a dispersal order to try to crack down on anti-social behaviour in a town centre — but insist that rumours of a planned protest are wrong.

Lincolnshire Police chiefs have today stated that suggestions that a protest was due to take place in Boston are inaccurate.

However, officers are acting after ‘several cases of antisocial behaviour causing significant concern for the community’.

Police have today (Wednesday) issued a dispersal order which ‘prevents groups of people gathering in a specific areas and gives our officers the power to exclude individuals from an area for up to 24 hours’.

Further rules have been brought into place to allow officers to stop and search individuals or search vehicles for offensive weapons or dangerous instruments where necessary.

A spokesman said: “Both orders have been made following intelligence that we have received. An officer will also have the power to order the removal of any item which they reasonably believe is being worn wholly or mainly for the purposes of concealing their identity.”

The boundaries of this order encompasses the town centre and includes the entirety of each road listed below:

Norfolk Street

Tawny Street

Wide Bargate

John Adams Way

Sleaford Road

Lister Way

Fydell Street

Hartley Street

Central Park

Officers say they will be making patrols of the area throughout the evening, and anyone engaging in anti-social behaviour will be made to leave the vicinity immediately.

Ch Insp Richard Nethercott said: "Our officers will be patrolling the area and will deal robustly with anyone behaving in an antisocial manner.

"We would like to thank the majority of our community for their continued cooperation and support.

"We would urge anyone who notices anything suspicious or does not feel safe to contact our Neighbourhood Policing Team or call 101, quoting incident 227 of August 14."