A THEATRE has been applauded by an anti-racism group after a comedian due to perform there had his gig cancelled over Tweets he sent in the aftermath of England’s Euro 2020 Final loss.

Andrew Lawrence, known for his stand-up work, had his tour appearance at Rosehill Theatre in Whitehaven cancelled after his tweets were labelled as racist by many users.

Lawrence tweeted several times criticising England players who missed their penalties in Sunday’s final against Italy.

Black players Marcus Rashford MBE, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, received racist abuse on social media following the final.

In the tweets, Andrew Lawrence commented on the players’ race, and made a mocking apology by concluding ‘black guys are bad at penalties’.

Janett Walker, the chairman of Anti-Racist Cumbria, said: “The past few days have shown that racism is still prevalent in our society. However, whilst outrage is understandable, action is what is really needed, and we applaud Rosehill Theatre and the Whitehaven community for taking action to show that racism is not welcome in their town.

“We’re particularly proud that they were one of the first to do so. The pandemic has hit theatres hard which makes this decision all the more powerful.

“No doubt Rosehill will face some backlash, but we have seen an overwhelmingly positive response from Cumbria which we hope gives them confidence in their actions, both now and in their future programming.

“It’s so important that community organisations continue to send a clear anti-racist message and we support all those that take positive action against racism in their communities.”

The theatre’s executive director, Deanne Shallcross, explained why Lawerence’s gig had been cancelled.

She said: “We are refusing to give this person any further platform.

"We hope our actions, and those of others within our industry, have sent a clear message to all that there is no room for racism on our stage.”