A POLICE chief has refused to apologise for the arrest of nine innocent aid workers heading for Gaza with vital supplies.

Chief Superintendent Andy Rhodes, of Lancashire Constabulary, was speaking at a community meeting at Jan’s Conference Centre, Audley, Blackburn, last night, which was attended by more than 100 people.

Chief Supt Rhodes said the police had been right to arrest the nine men under the Terrorism Act 2006 after three vehicles were stopped on the M65 on February 13.

The meeting had been organised to discuss the fall-out from the arrests and allowed people the chance to question leading police officers.

When asked by a member of the audience to apologise for getting it ‘wrong’, Chief Supt Rhodes said he was confident the police had done the right thing.

He said: “I would challenge that we got it badly wrong.

"We are satisfied we acted in the best interests of the community to keep people safe.

"If the police get it wrong they should apologise, but we acted on intelligence that prevented people being harmed.”

He added that the arrests were made just three hours after the intelligence was received.

Six of the men were released within hours of their arrest, while three others were detained for almost a week before being let go without charge.

They had been on their way to war-torn Gaza to distribute children’s toys and medicines, which had been collected by the Muslim community in Blackburn.

Chief Supt Rhodes was joined on the panel of speakers by community cohesion chief Anjum Anwar, Canon Chris Chivers, equality services leader Faruk Desai and Blackburn community leader Ibrahim Masters.

Mr Masters, a member of Lancashire Police Authority, added: “There is commitment from police to learn lessons from this.

“There is undeniable commitment from the Muslim community to fighting extremism and terrorism within Britain.

“The police should never become what we’re fighting because they will lose the moral high ground and the trust needed to fight terrorism.”