POLICE are putting plans in place to deal with a proposed Welsh Alliance and English Defence League march in Newport next week.

Gwent Police have said they have been “in contact with individuals who have stated their intent to stage a march on January 31”.

It is believed the march is being organised by the Welsh Alliance, previously known as the Welsh Defence League which is a splinter group of the EDL.

In December the Welsh Alliance reportedly posted a banner on their Facebook page notifying members of next week’s march, organised in response to a Muslim procession which took place last year.

A spokesman for Gwent Police said they are agreeing a route with them as part of their role “to facilitate a lawful, peaceful gathering”.

It is understood the Welsh Alliance organised the march after more than 500 Muslims held their annual procession in September last year to commemorate the anniversary of the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson.

The peaceful Muslim march, which has been running for more than 30 years, was disrupted by members of the far-right party the National Front who shouted chants and held up flags.

The Islamic Society for Wales, which has its headquarters in Newport, reacted to news of the Welsh Alliance march by organising a series of peace and unity events.

On Sunday [January 18] the Victoria Road mosque hosted Newport’s first ever Peace and Unity conference, welcoming more than 70 people and multi-faith and cross-party speakers including Green Party leader Pippa Bartolotti.

The ISW is now holding a Peace and Unity candlelit vigil this Sunday [January 25], in a drive to “unite people of all faiths and nationalities for peace” and to “say no to terrorism and racists”.

Mubarak Ali, secretary of the ISW, said: "Our march is a peaceful march, we’ve been doing it for more than 30 years. When the National Front came to our march, our crowd ignored them and stayed peaceful.

“We want to make the point to people, ISIS or the Taliban have got nothing to do with us. That’s not Islam, that’s pure evil.

“We want to have more get-togethers with different people of multi-faiths so we can break these barriers down.”

David Phillips, chief executive of South East Wales Racial Equality Council, said Newport is an integrated city and many of the protesters are likely to be outsiders.

He said: “The fact is in Newport our communities do spend much more time together. There is much more integration here than in some other cities."

The Peace and Unity candlelit vigil will be held at 6pm on Sunday, January 25th. All are welcome to join, meeting at the Islamic Society for Wales mosque on Victoria Road before walking down Hill Street and into the city centre.