Steve Dent, 54, walked the nine miles from his house in Radcliffe, Bury, to the concert venue with a large placard tied to his torso

A father marched on Manchester Arena carrying a sign calling for the Government to 'deport ISIS supporters' in the wake of the Manchester terror blast.

Steve Dent, 54, walked the nine miles from his house in Radcliffe, Bury, to the concert venue with a large placard tied to his torso.

He tied the banner to a fence at the area, a week after ISIS inspired terrorist Salman Abedi murdered 22 people, including an eight-year-old girl, and injured 119 with a nail bomb, last Monday.

It read: 'Walking to the Manchester Arena in support of those children that died and injured.

'I am walking to the Arena to demand that our government take the British people seriously and make us there [sic] first priority. 1: Deport all known ISIS supporters.'

Mr Dent said: 'The only reason I did it is because what happened on Monday made me feel sick. I felt helpless.

'I woke up the morning after and saw the news and it was just horrific. How could this happen in our city?

'I got the sign made up at short notice and did the walk on my own. It was purely to try to get the message across that the British people are sick of these terrorists.

Mr Dent said he walked to the Manchester Arena after feeling 'helpless' in the wake of the Manchester bombing

'Some people have had a go at me for my spelling or whatever but that's not the point. It's the message on the sign.

'It's not racist. The fact is, football hooligans get locked up and have their passports confiscated because they cause a bit of trouble at a football match.

'Why can't the same thing happen to people who support terrorism? It's hypocritical from the police and the government.

'If someone is known to be a supporter of ISIS, they should be arrested - simple.'

Mr Dent claimed the reception he got from motorists and passers-by was 'overwhelmingly positive'.

The father-of-two said: 'There were people tooting their horns and saying 'good on you'.

Pictured: Mr Dent marches to Manchester Arena, a nine-mile journey that took him three hours

'The people who did this are cowards, not people. I feel passionately about the message on this sign. Lots of people do.

'I tied it to a green fence between the Arena and Manchester Cathedral.

'I don't expect it to stay up there for long, but the government needs to wake up and start taking this seriously.'

Steve's daughter, 19-year-old Gabrielle, said: 'We were supposed to be at the Take That concert on Thursday night and running through dad's mind was the thought it could have been us.

'He hasn't done this for money, he's done this purely out of the kindness of his own heart.'

Last night, the sign was nowhere to be seen outside the Arena, where floral tributes have emerged and a police cordon is still in place.