Stabbings follow football final

Police attended numerous fights and disorder in Hertford town centre last night after receiving a large number of calls from members of the public.

At around 10pm, police received several calls reporting that disorder had broken out in the town centre. Officers were conducting proactive patrols in the area and arrived on scene within minutes, with further units sent to assist.

One man was taken to hospital with a knife injury to his chest and a second man received a knife wound.

Three men aged in their 20s have been arrested on suspicion of affray.

East Herts Chief Inspector David Cooke said: “I understand this incident will have caused a great deal of concern among the local community.

“Officers were faced with an extremely challenging environment involving a large crowd. They worked quickly to make arrests and ensure that no one else was hurt.

“Enquiries are now ongoing to establish the circumstances around what happened.

“Many members of the public will have witnessed the disorder and we’d be keen to hear from them, particularly anyone who captured mobile phone or CCTV footage.

“If you captured any footage between 9.30pm and 11pm, we’d ask you to please send this to police directly, rather than sharing on social media.”

Police have set up a portal where members of the public can upload mobile phone footage of the incidents at https://orlo.uk/ad5Sk to establish exactly what happened between 9.30pm and 11pm on Sunday evening.

Please send any footage to police, rather than sharing on social media, so it can be thoroughly investigated.

Alternatively, you can report online at https://orlo.uk/Atp2D quoting ISR 729.

Constituency MP Josh Dean posted on social media, saying: "I'm deeply concerned by reports of violent crime and antisocial behaviour in Hertford following last night's football match. My thanks to the police and emergency services for their efforts. I will be contacting local police today requesting a full briefing on these incidents and to discuss our shared priorities of keeping residents safe."

Updated to add comment by Josh Dean MP.
Updated to add comment from CI David Cooke