Livestock exporter in appeal to Major
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Your support makes all the difference.The Prime Minister was asked yesterday to intervene personally in the latest live animal export demonstration.
The owner of the 3,500 sheep halted by animal rights protesters on Monday night from boarding a cargo ship bound for Belgium, criticised the police operation for being understaffed and said he would be demanding action by his local MP, John Major.
As bad weather yesterday forced Ministry of Agriculture inspectors to cancel any sailing of the specially converted cargo vessel, Caroline, the demonstration eased.
The organisers, Brightlingsea Against Live Exports (Bale), promised the protest would resume today. The group have now organised boats to try to intercept the Caroline should the main roadside protest fail.
The shipment organiser, Richard Otley, had his car attacked by demonstrators on Monday when he tried to enter the wharf area at Brightlingsea, in Essex. The attack, which led to five arrests, was only few hours before over 500 protesters forced police tocall off the loading of the sheep.
Yesterday, Mr Otley said the police had not sent enough officers to ensure that a convoy of seven lorries got through. Only one lorry tried to pass the blockade before the police halted further attempts.
"It's ridiculous. That cargo should have been loaded last night. Why did they not have barriers like at Shoreham?''
Mr Otley said that his company had £100,000 tied up in export contracts at Brightlingsea. "It's time I got my MP, the Prime Minister, to act," he said.
It is understood Mr Otley's complaints have been conveyed to Mr Major through his constituency office in Huntingdon.
The police operation on Monday had involved an escort of the first of the lorries to within 100 yards of the demonstration.When the protesters began to sit in the road they were initially removed. However, the sheer numbers, including elderly women and children, worried the organisers and police.
Essex's Assistant Chief Constable, Geoffrey Markham, said it was wrong to compare Shoreham with Brightlingsea. "Shoreham was a modern lay-out. Brightlingsea's wharf is at the wrong end of a narrow three mile road in a medieval town,'' he said.
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