STREET violence could erupt in UK towns and cities as Covid-19 lockdown rules are lifted, a gang researcher has warned.

Professor Simon Harding said gang members may look to settle scores following weeks of rows played out on social media.

Figures released by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) on Thursday showed police recorded crime, excluding fraud, was down by a quarter in the four weeks to May 10, compared to the same period last year, including a 30 per cent fall in serious assault and personal robbery.

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But Prof Harding has predicted a surge in violence in “county lines” hotspots – a gang model which sees young and vulnerable people used as couriers to move drugs and cash between cities and smaller towns.

“Young people have spent weeks now on social media and phones involved in gang activity while their parents have no idea,” Prof Harding, the director of the National Centre for Gang Research (NCGR) at the University of West London said on Friday.

“They will have been making enemies and causing problems which you would normally see dealt with on the streets, but instead it is all building up.

“Often, they will be completely unaware that they have crossed someone else, but those tensions will certainly not be forgotten.”

The academic previously said many drug dealers had followed social distancing rules, turning to social media, “drive-by sales” or letterbox drops to avoid infection, while others were dressing as joggers or using fake NHS ID badges to avoid infection.

“While some dealers have heeded Government advice to stay at home, others have continued as normal while encroaching on rival patches, or stealing their drug customers,” he said.

“Once restrictions lift we are going to see the repercussions of recent online activity played out on the streets with a big upsurge in street violence as gang members seek revenge and make a public show of punishing those who have crossed them.

“It is extremely worrying for young people caught up in this activity in towns and cities all across the UK.”

But Merseyside chief constable Andy Cooke, the NPCC lead for crime operations, said on Thursday organised crime groups (OCGs) had continued to operate throughout the lockdown, carrying out shootings and gang murders.

Asked about a potential spike when restrictions are lifted, he said: “Will there be a big increase at the end of it? I think that presupposes they have been staying indoors, which they haven’t.

“Criminals are criminals. Particularly gangs and OCGs have continued the business, perhaps in slightly different ways.

“But if they want to settle a dispute, I think they have done it. So, I don’t expect to see a massive increase in relation to firearms discharges or similar at the end of this. I think it will just be as previous.”