Council hires guards after group disrupts meeting

A group known as Thetford Council Watch regularly attends the town council's meetings

A town council has hired a private security team after a previous meeting was disrupted by protesters.

A 999 call was made to Norfolk Police during a Thetford Town Council meeting in April.

Protesters at the meeting had objected to a decision to declare a "climate emergency" and commit £30,000 to tackle it.

The security team is being funded through council reserves but councillors declined to specify how much money would be spent.

The meeting in April fell into disorder during a section dedicated to questions from the public.

It was taken over by a group called Thetford Council Watch with discussions became increasingly heated as more questions were asked.

It argued there were better ways to spend money in the town.

One woman called the council a "panel of useless idiots" as the group refused to stop talking when asked to be silent, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Members went on to ask councillors what they thought of "bedroom-department activities" being taught in schools.

Police were called after repeated attempts by the chairman to bring order, but officers did not attend, citing operational reasons.

The meeting was suspended for nearly an hour before the protesters left, allowing it to resume.

An 'obligation'

The campaign group, some of whose members previously sat as councillors, regularly attend council meetings to raise topics such as sex education in schools, transgender issues and the use of vaccines.

It said it is holding authority to account in the name of "freedom and common sense".

The security team was first spotted at a meeting on 28 May after being hired by acting town council clerk, Alan Yorke.

He told the meeting he had an "obligation" to safeguard councillors and it was something he said he took "very seriously".

Alan Fulbrook, a member of the Thetford Council Watch, questioned how the security was being funded and said he would be "stopping his council tax".

Terry Jermy, a member of the council who is the Labour candidate standing against Liz Truss in South West Norfolk at the General Election, said the guards would be in place for the “foreseeable future”.