About 50 anti-cuts protesters, some dressed as chickens, gathered in the city to condemn the Liberal Democrats today, on the day party leader Nick Clegg was due to speak at the Oxford Union.

The Deputy Prime Minister cancelled the visit last week, “due to an unfortunate clash of diary commitments”.

The ‘flash mob’ of protesters opposed to cuts at universities and in other public services held up banners outside the Liberal Democrats’ offices in Park End Street.