Hundreds of people from across the borough turned out for pro-Palestine march in Blackburn.

The event began at the town hall on Saturday afternoon and made its way through the streets of Blackburn taking in Barbara Castle Way, Whalley New Road and Whalley Range. It then headed along Victoria Street and back to the town hall.

Over the past seven months, a number of protests over the ongoing bombing in Gaza have taken place in Lancashire but this was only the second march to be held in the town.

The others have been static protests at different locations.

Numbers were down on the march that took place in October with around 1000 people turning out, including some of Blackburn with Darwen's Independent councillors.

The ‘March for Palestine – Hands Off Rafah’ event was organised by Blackburn4Palestine, said the poster.

Lancashire Telegraph:

The march began at the town hall and then made its way through Blackburn on Saturday.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Blackburn with Darwen staff were on hand to manage the road closures and a handful of police were present. The event like other pro-Palestine protests passed off peacefully.

One of the organisers said: “The bombing continues and people are still dying so the protests will continue.

“People of all ages and backgrounds take part in the protests and we cannot look away from the ongoing slaughter of thousands.

“We would like to thank all the volunteers in helping to put on the event.”

Blackburn with Darwen Council had earlier said it had not received any ‘formal notification’ of a protest taking place but warned road users of delays.

The event came on the day as a national march in London attracted tens of thousands on the 76th anniversary of the ‘Nakba’ – meaning catastrophe, used by Palestinians to describe the establishment of the state of Israel.