An order which gives officers additional stop and search powers has been put in place in Leigh after incidents of disorder.

The Section 60 order covers much of Leigh as well as Chalkwell, shown in the map, and is in place in order to keep residents and visitors safe.

It is an extension of the stop and search powers officers already have and has been authorised under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

This means officers will not need to have reasonable grounds to carry out a stop and search of anyone in the area.

The order is in place until 5.40am tomorrow morning, Sunday August 14.

The incidents reported to police today include potential sightings of weapons.

Inspector Andrew Jopson said: “The order has been put in place to ensure the safety of everyone in the area this afternoon and into this evening.

“We want everyone to be able to enjoy their days in Leigh and that’s why we’re using the tools available to us to in order to ensure that remains the case.

“We know this means that people entirely unconnected to criminality may be selected for search but please understand, every negative search we carry out gets us one step closer to finding those who may be carrying weapons.”