Chief constable pledges support to people of Manchester

Chief Constable Steve Finnigan said the county and his force would 'stand with' the people of Manchester following the incident.

Many of those caught up in the attack had travelled from Lancashire to the Ariana Grande concert at the arena.

As people were leaving the venue an 'improvised explosive device' is believed to have been detonated in the foyer, which links the Arena to Manchester Victoria station.

Chief Constable Finnigan said: "Our thoughts first and foremost today are with those affected by the tragic events in Manchester last night.

"We will do all we can in the coming days to support Greater Manchester Police and the people of Manchester. We stand with them.

"We recognise that these events and the subsequent media reporting can have a significant impact on people's confidence and we will continue to engage with all our communities to offer them reassurance."

The chief constable made it clear the people of Lancashire should come together as one following the tragedy, calling on members of the public to play their part in the fight against terrorism.

He said: "Lancashire is a tolerant and diverse county and we must not allow terrorists to create discord, distrust and fear.

"We will not tolerate hate crime and we would encourage anyone who feels they have been the victim of any kind of hate crime to report it to the police.

"We rely on our communities to help us make Lancashire a safe place to live, work and visit and we would encourage everybody to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious.

"We would ask people to be alert and to report anything suspicious to police on the anti-terror hotline 0800789321 or to call 999."