Newcastle’s restaurant week has been extended after organisers said fears of violent disorder in the city put off diners.

The event, held twice a year, was due to end on Sunday August 11, but has been extended until this Sunday, August 18 after restaurants taking part reported people cancelling bookings last week.

It came amid fears of further violent disorder and riots across the country, including in Newcastle.

Planned far-right riots on Wednesday (August 7) failed to materialise with a huge gathering of thousands of anti-racism protesters instead descending on Newcastle’s West.

Stephen Patterson, Chief Executive of NE1 Ltd said: “Many of our restaurants reported a significant drop in business from Wednesday last week when the threat of protests kept people away from the city.  Thankfully, Newcastle has shown that there is more that unites than divides us.

“Fittingly, our NE1 Newcastle Restaurant Week theme this year is ‘Eat the World’ which beautifully represents the diversity of our great city and its restaurant community.

“We are delighted that so many of the city’s restaurants have agreed to extend their restaurant week offers, providing the opportunity for diners who missed out last week to take advantage of all this great city has to offer.”

A total of 62 restaurants of the 108 inititally signed up have agreed to take part in the second week.

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It sees eateries put on heavily discounted deals including menus at £15, £20, or £25.

The event has been running for 13 years and aims to give the city’s restaurants a boost and encourage diners to try out new cuisines.

Last year, more than 155,000 diners took part across two weeks in January and August generating more than £2m for the restaurant industry, organisers NE1 said.