Statement following the demonstrations in Bristol city centre

Five arrests have been made during the UKIP demonstration and counter-protest in Bristol city centre today (Saturday 17 May).

Officers were in the city centre, by the Cenotaph, today to facilitate the protest between UKIP and a counter-protest group and to keep the public safe.

Five people have been arrested during the demonstrations:

• A 37-year-old man on suspicion of assault.
• A 25-year-old man on suspicion of theft.
• Two women and a man on suspicion of breach of the peace.

Silver Commander for the protest, Ch Insp Jason Sims, said: “Overall, both groups were calm and engaged with officers, however we did see a handful of clashes between the two sides.

“A number of arrests have been made and investigations and further enquiries continue.

“I would like to take the opportunity to praise the officers and staff involved in the policing of this event. The feedback I have received so far is that officers acted professionally and proportionately to keep the members of the public safe and to facilitate the protests.

“A large number of our officers cancelled their days off with their loved ones to facilitate the policing of this event, which enabled us to keep the public safe, and I cannot thank them enough for making that personal sacrifice.

“I would also like to thank our colleagues at the ambulance and fire services and local authority for their support.”

Today’s event saw approximately 100 people from UKIP gathering near the Colston Statue plinth and around 250 people for the counter-protest gathering at the Cenotaph.

The counter-protestors arrived at around 11.30am and members from the UKIP side arrived at around 1pm. Both sides dispersed at around 3.45pm.

In total, we deployed 167 officers to the protest – including specialist units from drones, dogs, mounted, traffic, cycle team. They were also joined by local policing officers, neighbourhood officers and colleagues from ambulance, fire and local authority.

St Augustine’s Parade and Colston Avenue were closed in both directions at around 12.30pm to ensure public safety. The roads were reopened before 4pm.