A newspaper’s role in peacemaking on a trouble-hit estate has come in for praise from the authorities.

The Wrexham Evening Leader published a full page poster in the wake of race riots in the town.

And it urged its readers to place it in their windows to declare their pride in the Caia Park estate and their abhorrence of the violence.

The poster used a picture of the estate and the words: ‘We’re Proud of the park ….. Are you?’ in a bid to make the rioters think twice about the damage they were causing to the estate.

The poster was designed, printed and distributed in less than 12 hours.

As well as the full colour page three poster more than 2,000 additional posters were distributed around the Caia Park estate, through newsagents and community leaders.

The estate’s community police officers even requested posters to distribute themselves.

Editor Richard Williams said: “It was a spur of the moment idea and our news editor Joanne Shone came up with the words which were just right.

“This is a sensitive matter and we wanted to help our readers to distance themselves from the trouble without being too confrontational.

“There has been a huge take up of the posters and locals are using it as a platform to declare their local pride and the fact that they do not support any of the trouble that we have seen.

“It was a terrible time for the town and now, thankfully, things seem to be getting back to normal. We are glad that the paper was able to play some part in helping restore peace to the estate.”

Wrexham MP Ian Lucas told the paper: “These posters are an excellent idea. It is time that the ordinary decent people on the estate have their say. This is a great way for them to do it.”

And Chief Supt Steve Curtis also welcomed the paper’s involvement in peacemaking, saying: “This is a tremendous initiative which will have the support of the local community.”

The troubles, which saw more than 70 people arrested, have now ended and the estate has returned to a state of normality.

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