Animal Rebellion: Arrests after protest at Billingsgate Fish Market

The protesters headed to the market in the early hours of Saturday

Animal rights protesters have been arrested following a demonstration at a London fish market.

Animal Rebellion said about 200 protesters closed off Billingsgate Fish Market early on Saturday morning.

The group, which is calling for "the end of the agriculture industry", said one protester chained themselves to the market's gate.

The Met Police said 23 people had been arrested however this figure would increase as more were booked in.

Of those, 22 were arrested for knowingly failing to comply with a condition imposed under the Public Order Act and one was arrested for aggravated trespass.

The Met Police said most arrests were for breaching the Public Order Act

The group's spokesperson, Alex Lockwood, said protesters were arrested because they sat down and obstructed traffic and prevented anyone from entering the market between 05:00-06:00 BST.

Animal Rebellion has described itself as a "mass volunteer movement" demanding that the government end the "destructive animal farming and fishing industries".

The group said it stood in "solidarity" with the climate change campaigners Extinction Rebellion.

Earlier in the week, they carried out an 18-hour blockade at Smithfield Market, an 800-year-old meat market in Farringdon.