The Leicester Mercury was at the centre of a 1,000-strong peace rally in the city's Victoria Park on Saturday, called to show community solidarity after the London bombings.

Many of the speakers praised the newspaper for its long-standing work to promote good inter-faith and inter-cultural relations and for supporting the event.

The Mercury had printed 500 placards saying "Leicester People United" and "Leicester United: One City, One Community." It was a theme adapted by one young Muslim speaker who raised applause by saying: "Leicester United 1, Terrorists 0."

The rally organisers, the Federation of Muslim Organisations, acknowledged the effectiveness of the Mercury's front page appeal for people to attend the event, which had been organised at short notice with the help of the Mercury's social affairs correspondent, Ciaran Fagan.

Supported by Leicester Council of Faiths, the rally heard speakers including two of the city's imams, a young Muslim mother, the Bishop of Leicester and the leader of Leicester City Council who urged the mutli-faith, multi-ethnic crowd to shake the hand of the person next to them.

The newspaper produced a special late edition on Saturday to record the rally.

Mercury editor Nick Carter said: "We have worked very hard for several years to forge the closest possible relationships with the many diverse communities of Leicester.

"They are united against the current threat – and the Mercury is very much at the heart of this cohesive community."