Dispersal orders were initially authorised in East Leicester from 8pm on Tuesday September 6.

The orders were authorised following reports of groups gathering in the areas of Belgrave, Rushey Mead and Spinney Hill.

Chief Superintendent Adam Slonecki authorised the orders under Sections 34 and 35 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 across Tuesday and then Wednesday night.

The orders allowed officers to return anyone under the age of 16 to their home address between the hours of 8pm and 6am on Tuesday night, and 7am and 6am on Wednesday night.

Stop and search powers were also authorised under s.60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act on Tuesday night.

T/CC Rob Nixon, who joined officers on the patrols on Tuesday, said that tension across some parts of the city has emanated from an incident that occurred on August 28 following the cricket match between India and Pakistan. 

There was then a separate incident that took place on the same evening into Monday morning – and a series of incidents took place on Monday 5 September. 

Local media reports allege that the incident on August 28 involved a number of men making offensive statements about Pakistan along with scenes of violence.

He said: “There’s a lot of speculation on social media on the fact that the police aren’t doing anything and within that social media space, there’s a lot of spreading of rumours, there’s a lot of trying to galvanise people to get involved in disorder themselves.

“Please can I encourage you not to get involved in that.

“All three of those separate investigations are all being robustly followed up.”

He said the force has identified five people linked to the incident on Sunday 28 August and investigations are on-going with the others.

During the patrols on Tuesday night, 18 people were dispersed, 131 were subject to stop and search procedures.

Four arrests subsequently took place, included a 19-year-old on suspicion of possession of a conducted energy device and a 24-year-old on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon.

T/CC Nixon said: “Sadly, what I saw [on Tuesday] evening was a minority of people intent on causing some disturbance and despite requests into the community this small minority persisted which resulted in my team using their powers as outlined above.

“Now is a time for calm heads and measured words while the police continue to take action and carry out investigations. Violence within our communities will not be tolerated.”