BBC Rewind: Brightlingsea hit by live animal export protests

Archive pictures from 1995 show campaigners in a town protesting against the export of live animals from its port.

Protestors and police clashed in Brightlingsea, Essex on an almost daily basis for 10 months, leading to hundreds of arrests and a divided community.

Animal rights campaigners believed the shipment of live sheep and calves to Europe was cruel.

People wept, shouted, waved banners and tried to block the path of lorries until the end of October 1995 when exports from the town stopped.

Much more archive footage can be found on BBC Rewind.

  • Essex