Animal rights protesters and police clash during demo

Trouble flared during Saturday's walk, organised by Shac (Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty), from Oxpens to Littlemore.

One male demonstrator was charged with public order offences and several people, including two police officers, suffered minor injuries in Iffley Road.

Protesters against animal testing in Oxford

Both sides have accused the other of reneging on agreements made in negotiations before the march took place. The demonstrators agreed not to engage in sit-down protests if the police did not use video cameras or horses.

About 500 people gathered near the ice rink in Oxpens Road to hear speeches. Chief Insp Steff Leigh then attempted to read out police conditions for the march to the offices of Yamanouchi, a pharmaceutical company, in Littlemore, but her voice was drowned out by whistles, klaxons and chants. The company is accused of being a customer of Europe's largest animal testing laboratory, Huntingdon Life Sciences, in Cambridgeshire. The protesters' next stop was Carfax where a two-minute silence was held.

Trouble started when the marchers sat down in High Street and the area around Magdalen Bridge. The police responded by holding up the march up in Iffley Road.

Protesters carried a mock coffin partly filled with toy dogs to the entrance of Yamanouchi, where a cordon of police and closed gates ensured they went no further. They dispersed peacefully an hour later.

Shac spokesman Dawn Gifford said: "We always have this trouble with Thames Valley Police. They can't police any demonstration without resorting to these bully-boy tactics and next time we come we will not bother to negotiate with them first."

But Supt David McWhirter, head of Oxford police, accused protesters of creating violence and disruption and breaking their word to demonstrate peacefully.

He said that police only used video cameras after the demonstrators began to photograph the police and horses when "the demonstrators began scuffling".