Climate protesters bitten by police dogs

Climate change demonstrators protesting at a power station were bitten by police dogs and suffered other injuries, police said yesterday.

More than 1,000 demonstrators converged on the giant coal-powered Ratcliffe-on-Soar site in Nottinghamshire last Saturday, with clashes breaking out between police and protesters as they tried to tear up perimeter fencing.

Chief inspector Linda McCarthy of Nottinghamshire police said: “There have been reports of some protesters receiving dog bites and other injuries as a result of a concerted effort to pull down fences and enter the site.

“Of course this is regrettable, but it’s a combination of reckless behaviour by some of the protesters and us having to respond with a different style of policing.”

By mid-morning yesterday, 52 people had been arrested, she said, clarifying the figure given yesterday of nearly 80 arrests.

One protester, Laura McFarlane-Shopes, 23, wore a bandage on her arm to cover a bite she had received from one of the dogs.

She said: “We were near the fence and some people were trying to get over. I was just in front of them.

“Horses and dogs started charging down. Police shouted that they were coming.

“They let the dogs on to me and one leaped up and bit my arm.”

The student from Leeds added that after she had received the painful bite, officers continued to push her and her friends.

She said: “I wasn’t trying to break the fence, I was just near people who were and I was supporting them.” A police spokesman said: “We certainly haven’t set dogs on anyone. Dogs have remained on their leads at all times. If people have received dog bites, that’s regrettable, but dogs are a legitimate way of helping to maintain order.”

Another protester, David Martin, 28, said a friend of his had been bitten in the stomach by a dog and had to be taken to casualty.

The student from Hackney, east London, said: “A lot of people had puncture wounds from the dogs. People were bleeding.

“I saw at least 10 or 20 people who had been bitten.”

He added that police told protesters to get inside a designated protest zone they set up this morning.

But a police spokesman said “kettling” had not been used to contain protesters in one area.

She said: “At no time throughout the protest were protesters contained by police. Protesters were free to leave at all times.”

She also denied that the use of dogs and helicopters to police the site overnight was a deliberate attempt to stop those who camped there from sleeping.

Protesters made further attempts to pull down fences and enter the site yesterday, police said.

The A453, which reopened earlier, had to be closed again, they added, and further arrests were made.

Ms McCarthy said: “We’re grateful to those who have staged a peaceful protest but it’s clear many were prepared to use force to enter the site.”

Demonstrators, under the banner the Great Climate Swoop, included supporters of three pressure groups – the Camp for Climate Action, Plane Stupid and Climate Rush.

The 2,000mw coal-fired power station is owned by the energy company E.ON and said to be one of the largest producers of carbon dioxide in Britain.