Protests disrupt British port of Dover

Far-right and anti-fascist protesters have caused have caused major disruption to the British port of Dover as a major police operation was mounted.

The British port of Dover has been brought to a standstill by a large-scale police operation as far-right and anti-fascist groups held protests.

Roads were closed and lined by police as demonstrators marched separate routes through the port town in Kent on Saturday.

Thirteen people were arrested, including one man arrested on suspicion of possession of offensive weapons.

An EU flag was burnt by far-right protesters as they congregated by the port, where they spoke in favour of Britain leaving the European Union and against immigration.

Meanwhile, anti-fascist protesters sang "refugees are welcome here" as they stood surrounded by police, countering earlier chants of "no more refugees".

Some roads were closed to allow protesters to make their way towards Dover's eastern docks, causing long traffic tailbacks.

Charlie Elphicke, Conservative MP for Dover, said the disruption to local people caused by the demonstrators was "too high a price to pay".

He said: "Here today in Dover, ferries are waiting at the port being disrupted. The port has been disrupted. The haulage industry has been disrupted.

"Our nation's economy has been disrupted, as well as the town of Dover and our local economy."

Neil Jerome, temporary assistant chief constable for Kent Police, said the disruption was "unavoidable".

"As I made clear in the run-up to the events today, the right to protest inevitably causes disruption to the community. That is largely unavoidable - we do all we can to minimise that disruption.


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Source: AAP



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