Hundreds attend Upton anti-fracking demonstration

About 400 people took part in an anti-fracking demonstration at the Upton site where an eviction took place on Tuesday

Hundreds of people have taken part in an anti-fracking demonstration in Upton, near Chester.

It follows a police operation which removed a protest camp set up on a test drilling site since April 2014.

About 30 protesters were evicted on Tuesday, after being served with a court order compelling them to leave the area in November.

Up to 400 campaigners chanted and made speeches during a protest at the site which has been cleared by bailiffs.

They claim they were "denied their right to peacefully protest" after police closed off Duttons Lane during the eviction.

Nine people were charged with a number of offences after the eviction, including aggravated trespass and obstructing a police officer.

The site at Upton was cleared after the anti-fracking protest camp was evicted

Cheshire Police warned on Twitter the event could lead to disruption on the roads around Upton and Chester.

Patrols were deployed for reassurance, the force added.

A Frack Free Dee Coaliton spokesperson said: "The events of Tuesday have merely strengthened the resolve of our communities to continue in our opposition to extreme energy technologies being utilised here or anywhere.

"The protests will continue daily, outside of the police blockade whilst it remains in situ and then outside of the site once it is removed.

"Upton Community Protection camp may be gone but the community is not."

An IGas spokesman earlier told the BBC the company respected "the right to peaceful protest, [but] these protesters [at the camp] were trespassing as determined by the High Court".

Planning permission for IGas to run tests at the site runs out on 28 May.