Police patrols are to be stepped up around Preston’s mosques on Saturday as around 1,200 protesters head into the city to take part in two demonstrations.

Chief Supt Tim Jacques, head of Preston Police, revealed the plans ahead of the demonstration by the English Defence League and counter demonstration by Unite Against Facism and the Trade Union Council.

Police officers’ days off have been cancelled and specially trained public order officers are being drafted in from other parts of the county to support the policing operation, which will see the mounted branch, road police and other units taking to city centre streets.

Today Chief Supt Jacques said it would be one of the biggest police operations seen in Preston in recent years but insisted the city was “open for business as usual” on Saturday – the fourth week before Christmas and the first official Christmas shopping weekend.

He said: “We are working with the community and police officers are going to be in the areas where the mosques are on Saturday to reassure people. We have had lots of meetings with the mosques and are working with the demonstration organisers in terms of minimising the impact. There are no planned demonstrations outside any mosques but it is in our minds.”

Lancashire Evening Post, 23 November 2010

Details of the Unite Against Fascism protest can be found here.

Update:  It is good that the police appear to have accepted that the EDL represents a violent threat to the Muslim community in Preston – previously they argued that the EDL is a peaceful, non-racist organisation. This reluctance to recognise the real character of the EDL is unfortunately not restricted to the police in Lancashire. See also the Morning Star, which reports that the new head of police domestic extremist units, DCS Adrian Tudway, has claimed that the EDL is not a far-right group.