Social networking sites fuelled rumours of disorder and violence in Oxford, prompting police to set up a Twitter account to try to combat fears.

Repeated reports of trouble in Cowley Road, banks in the city centre closing early and McDonald’s in Cornmarket Street being targeted were all dismissed by a police spokesman. Despite the rumours he said the force was not dealing with any ongoing incidents at the locations.

Superintendent Amanda Pearson said: “Social media is great in terms of the speed that information can be made available, but the problem can be that any one piece of information is shared by lots of people and becomes fact.”

In a statement the force said: “We are aware there is a lot of speculation in the community and on social networking sites about various copy cat ‘riots’ taking place or planned for the Oxford area.

“Most of this information is either incorrect or untrue, but regardless of this it is continuing to fuel anxiety within our local communities. Thames Valley Police would like to reassure people it is monitoring social networking sites and engaging with our communities through the neighbourhood policing teams to establish the validity of the information out in the public domain.”

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