Covid: Children targeted by anti-vax protesters at Lichfield school gates

The protest took place outside the Friary School, Lichfield, on Friday

Anti-Covid vaccine protesters have been branded "totally irresponsible" for demonstrating outside a school while children were arriving for lessons.

Campaigners formed a picket outside The Friary School in Lichfield, Staffordshire, on Friday.

Police said a small number of people were involved in a peaceful protest and it ended before 09:00.

The city's MP, Michael Fabricant, said if the action continued, the school may need to seek an injunction.

"I have condemned it for what it is, ignorant people endangering other people's lives," he said.

"It is just totally irresponsible by these people. I have suggested they are likely to cause a breach of the peace and the police should move them on."

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Vaccinations for 12 to 15-year-olds began in England last month

Experts say that unlike for older people, there is only a marginal benefit to vaccinating adolescents on health grounds alone, given their risk of becoming seriously ill with Covid is small.

While vaccinating secondary school-age children will not stop the virus circulating, it could help keep more pupils in class.

Some three million children are eligible for the jab across the UK after the chief medical officers of the four nations advised younger teenagers should be offered a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine.