THE head of the Orange Order of England has moved to reassure York residents that a planned march in the city next weekend is no cause for concern.

The reassurances from Grand Master Ron Bather come after an anonymous letter was sent to The Press, claiming there would be a demonstration against next Saturday’s march.

Police have confirmed they have been notified of the demonstration by organisers, but said they want to keep policing “low key”.

Mr Bather said: “These parades take place throughout England all year long and not one of them is organised with the intention of antagonising anyone.

“There will be no banners or flags flying which would be derogatory to the Roman Catholic Church or any other religion.”

He said: “There was a parade about two years ago in Leeds and there was no trouble whatsoever and we were even praised by police for it passing off so peacefully.”

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “We are aware of the meeting, but it will not affect the way we police the parade. We want it to be a low level event.”

When the march was revealed in The Press last month, the story attracted a large number of comments on our web site from readers who feared seeing similar scenes of unrest that have taken place in Northern Ireland.

One comment read: “Keep it in Belfast and Glasgow, we’re fine here”, while another reader voiced concerns over “bigots” hijacking the parade.

Claire Duggleby, spokesperson for City of York Council, said: “The council does not have the power to grant nor withdraw permission for any march or rally.

“Permission can only be withdrawn by the Home Secretary. In a free society, organisations have a right to assemble and parade across the UK. Parades take place in York each year and the council works closely with the police to ease any disruption that may occur to the normal life of the city.”

The exact route and time of the parade is not yet known.