Arms protest policing criticised

Police in Sussex have been accused of over-reacting to an anti-war demonstration at an arms factory.

Several hundred people gathered at EDO MBM Technology in Moulsecombe in October as part of the four-year Smash EDO campaign.

Councillor Paul Elgood, leader of the Liberal Democrats on Brighton and Hove City Council, obtained figures from Sussex Police about the protest.

They revealed that more than 300 officers attend the event.

A total of 272 were from Sussex Police and a further 57 were drafted in from Hampshire.

EDO designs, develops and manufactures weapon carriage and release systems and is an approved supplier to the Ministry of Defence and governments worldwide.

'Position of confrontation'

Mr Elgood said: "If there were serious incidents taking place then police would be right to act.

"However, for over 300 for what was mostly a peaceful demonstration, I do think that was heavy-handed.

"And I do think police have taken valuable resources out of local communities and put them in a position of confrontation with the people protesting."

The number of police had "inflamed" the situation, he added.

A spokesperson for Sussex Police said the response was necessary "given the levels of violence and criminality shown at a previous demonstration" in June.

On that occasion 12 people were arrested.

The spokesperson said: "Our invitation to meet with the organisers of this protest to discuss how that demonstration could take place with minimal disruption was disregarded, therefore the numbers of officers deployed was proportionate given our previous experience.

"I would rather not take officers from neighbourhood policing, which benefits everyone in Brighton and Hove, but on occasions such as this it is necessary to do so in order to maintain the peace."