Six arrested after students threatened with knives outside Lancashire college
Police believe it was a pre-arranged fight between two rival groups.
Six people have been arrested after students were threatened with knives outside a college in Lancashire.
It happened near the gates of Runshaw College in Leyland at 4pm yesterday as students were leaving for the day.
Video footage shared on social media shows a group of young men wearing balaclavas who're believed to have been confronting a rival gang in a pre-arranged fight.
Around 12 people arrived at the college in a Volkswagen Polo, a Vauxhall Astra and a Nissan Micra before walking towards the Worden Park side of the campus - shouting at and confronting students.
One 17-year-old boy came away with a minor cut to his arm.
The incident came after a member of staff from the college received an anonymous tip off that a group of people were heading to the college with weapons from Manchester.
That information was passed onto the British Transport Police and South Ribble Neighbourhood Policing who were on duty outside the college as students left for the day.
Ch Insp Gary Crowe from Leyland Police said: “My advice to parents, staff and students would be to carry on as normal, we will have officers in around the area for reassurance and this will continue. Please speak to them if you have any concerns.
“We know that this disorder is related to a personal issue between two members of each group. There is nothing to suggest there are any further fights planned however, if you know different, you must let us know.
“Thankfully only one person suffered a minor injury but it could have been much worse. To those who think it is acceptable to behave like violent thugs, my message is clear. You are not welcome in Leyland and we do not tolerate this kind of shocking, deplorable behaviour.
“Our investigation is on-going and we made four arrests just after the incident happened, close to the scene. A further two arrests have followed this evening and we now think we have the three vehicles which were involved.
“We know that others were involved in this – from both sides of the altercation - and I have a number of officers working on finding out who they are.
“If you know who was involved, saw the disorder, have any mobile phone footage that you haven’t already sent to us or you know anything at all that could help our investigation, please get in touch.”
You can call 101 quoting incident reference 933 of 4th March. Alternatively independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.