A FURIOUS mum was left “shocked and disgusted” when she went into a town centre pub and saw a group of men wrapped in flags covered in swastika symbols.

Louise Ceesay and her pals were about to take part in the Bolton Hospice Midnight Memories walk when they called into the Blue Boar pub in Deansgate for a soft drink.

Mum-of-two Miss Ceesay was in the town centre between 11pm and midnight on June 21.

After arriving in Bolton, Miss Ceesay, aged 41, from Deane, and her friends decided to call into the pub as it was close to the start line.

But Louise, who is of mixed white and black African heritage, was appalled when she saw the group of men, clad in flags with the swastika symbol, which was adopted by the German Nazi party in 1920.

She said: “My friend had looked in and suggested that we shouldn’t go in but I thought she meant because it was packed — then I realised what she was talking about.

“I couldn’t believe it when I walked in - there were about seven of them with the flags with swastikas on and I just felt really intimidated by them.

"They were looking at me as if to say ‘what are you doing here?’

“I’m shocked and disgusted that the pub was happy to let these people in with those flags — it is not something you expect to see these days.”


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“I am mixed race and I felt very intimidated - I felt like they were looking at me.”

The pub’s management did not want to comment but did confirm that the men were in the pub with swastika flags.

They were believed to also be wearing German football shirts. Germany had been in World Cup action on the Saturday evening, drawing 2-2 with Ghana.

It is not illegal to simply wear Nazi regalia in public the UK, as it is in Germany, although it can cause legal problems in certain circumstances.

Regarding the swastika, a police spokesman said: “Issues like this depend on the context of the swastika being used.

"If it is being done to deliberately cause offence then it could be deemed a public order offence but the context is important in deciding whether we would investigate an incident.”

Miss Ceesay has not reported the matter to police.