Charge under animal research law

A man has been charged with breaching new laws designed to combat groups which target companies using animals in research work, police have said.

Mark Taylor, 38, from Wakefield, West Yorks, is accused of interference with contractual relationships so as to harm an animal research organisation.

This comes under the Serious and Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.

Mr Taylor is due to appear before magistrates in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, on Tuesday.

A police spokeswoman said the allegations related to protests at the premises of a company in Peterborough which supplied the firm Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), based in nearby Huntingdon.

She also said Mr Taylor was charged with assault and public order offences.

HLS carries out cancer and other medical research on animals, which the government has described as vital, but has come under fire from animal rights groups.