A restaurant owner has recalled the “worrying” moment a police officer advised the business to remove knives from the dining area prior to protests taking place in Southampton.

Moura’s – a restaurant in Bedford Place – closed early on Wednesday, August 7, and bordered up its windows before a small group of England flag-wearing protestors faced off against anti-racism counter protestors in Grosvenor Square.

Helder Moura, co-owner of the Portuguese eatery, said: “We were serving customers at lunchtime but then we were visited by a police officer who advised us to close early because of the protests.

“We're a new business and we lost some trade as we'd usually close at 10pm but we understood that it was better to close and cancel some bookings, fortunately our customers understood too.

“The police told us to remove all of the knives from the restaurant in case someone broke in and tried to access them, which was worrying, so we made sure we were boarded up.”

READ MORE: Full list of arrests at protests in Hampshire and Southampton

He added: “I think it was the same for a few businesses. Fortunately, there was no trouble, and the peace protestors outweighed the other group.

“We're back open now as normal and can't wait to welcome our guests."

The protest – and counter protest – on Wednesday night, was one of several sweeping the country following the fatal stabbing of three children in Southport last week.

Above Barbers (Image: Matt Davey)

Ryan Watts, a barber at Above Barbers on Above Bar Street told the Echo his business remained open as normal, and praised the police for the way they were able to contain the demonstrators and limit the disturbance.

He said: “We closed normal time yesterday at 7pm and had no problems.

“I live in Bedford Place, which is close to where the protests were and I think it was really well handled by the police, I certainly didn't hear of any trouble.

“I think a lot of people taking part aren't actually that well educated and use it as an excuse to cause harm, so I'm glad the peaceful protestors were there to counter it.”

He added: “The police seemed to do a great job and I've seen then walking up and down in pairs today too.

“I think it's reassuring when you see them patrolling the streets, if they were doing it more often, I think there would be less problems."