Police statement on arrest at climate camp

SOUTH Wales Police have issued a statement about an arrest at Ffros Y Fran, where there is a Climate Camp protest.

Here it is, completely unedited, and I'm trying to find a comment from the protesters too.

From ACC Dave Morris of South Wales Police:

“South Wales Police has made an arrest today at the Ffros Y Fran site in relation to the Climate Camp protest.

“About 100 protesters spontaneously left the campsite to undertake a peaceful protest to demonstrate at the Ffros Y Fran site.

“To facilitate the protest and to ensure the safety of the protesters, officers were deployed to escort the march up to the Kinseys farm area.

“A section 12 public order notice was served on the protesters preventing them proceeding further on the route for their own safety and the safety of others using the busy roadway.

“A small number of protesters, despite several police warnings, continued to move forward. One male person, despite the warnings, continued with his action and was bitten by a police dog to his left arm. This person was arrested for breaching the section 12 conditions.

“A large number of protesters conducted a sit-down protest while the remainder persisted in their desire to continue the march in contravention of the section 12 notice and were prevented from doing so.

“A short time later, all of the protesters returned to the campsite; escorted by the police to ensure their safety.

“Following this incident, officers are continuing to facilitate a peaceful protest and ensure residents can go about their day-to-day activity without disruption.

UPDATE: OK, we at Welsh Icons have managed to talk to some of the people who were at the demonstration.

Angharad from mid Wales one of the protesters told us "We were on a public road and peacefully walking along and were blocked by the police. The police had created a barrier and were stopping the traffic and it was them rather than the marchers who were blocking the road.

Kelvin from Aberystwyth said "We went for a walk, not a march to have a look at the mine. We were then stopped and told we could not continue as they had invoked a section 12 order. At that point there was just two of us.

He continued "there were two police horses and four of five scary police dogs. I was almost arrested myself when I went to see the man who had been bitten and then arrested was alright"

Photograph: Copyright Amelia Gregory