Police rebuked over protests at port

Essex police were criticised for their treatment of activists protesting against live animal exports at Brightlingsea, in a report revealed yesterday.

An inquiry by Commander Bernard Luckhurst, of the Metropolitan force, found that batons were drawn unnecessarily, though they were not used to strike the hundreds of people protesting in January. Balaclavas and other equipment created "an unnecessarily sinister image", he said. The inquiry, which was also critical of media coverage, followed nearly 100 complaints.