Events planned for Tuesday night in Manchester, Oxford, Liverpool and London are put on hold

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Rallies organised to protest against the EU referendum result have been cancelled because of safety fears.

More than 2,000 people were planning to attend the Stay Together: Manchester rally in Albert Square on Tuesday evening but organisers cancelled the event, saying the “safety of all individuals cannot be guaranteed”.

Pro-remain rallies in London and Oxford were also abandoned and a protest in Liverpool was postponed until next week.

A message on Facebook said the Manchester organisers planned to hold the event at a later date to allow time for safety planning.

It said: “The relevant contact has been made and we have been informed that at such short notice the safety of all individuals cannot be guaranteed and therefore the Stay Together: Manchester event can no longer take place on Tuesday 28 June.

“The same issue has been experienced by the organisers that were due to hold events at the same time in other cities and all events are now due to be cancelled and rescheduled to a later date. This is of course disappointing news, but the safety of each individual is paramount.”

Organisers of the Manchester and Liverpool events said the security concerns were because of logistical problems around policing and not over any specific threats towards pro-remain supporters.

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Within hours, a splinter group said it still intended to stage a rally in Manchester on Tuesday evening. As of midday on Tuesday, events in Cardiff, Cambridge and Bristol still appeared to be going ahead as planned later in the day.

Fifty thousand people had planned to attend the London event in Trafalgar Square, according to a message posted by the event’s organisers on Facebook.

The post said: “It started with the idea of bringing 20 friends together in London Fields park in east London, and now we have over 50,000 people who want to stand together in London. We’ve tried all we can to ensure this could go ahead. However logistically, it’s not possible to ensure a safe event.

“Trafalgar Square can hold 10,000 people – and that’s with security barriers, stewards, road closures, and a full contingency plan. Considering the speed with which this event has picked up, arranging everything required in time is simply not possible.

“Given this, with a heavy heart, it’s too dangerous for the attendees for the event to go ahead.”