Stop the bus

45 arrests as protesters block Bibby barge migrant coach

- SOPHIE HUSKISSON

PROTESTERS clashed with police yesterday after trying to block a coach of asylum seekers from being taken to the Bibby Stockholm barge.

Dozens of people, many with their faces covered, surrounded the coach with some linking arms and sitting on the road.

They chanted "no borders, no nations, stop deportations" and "say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here".

The bus was reportedly due to take seven asylum seekers to the vessel moored at Portland, in Dorset, but left empty.

The Met Police arrested 45 people in Peckham, South London, for offences including obstruction of the highway, obstructing police and assault on police.

They were all taken into custody.

One protester, who gave his name as Kojo Kyerewaa and had his face covered with a black balaclava, said the Government's migration policy was "desperate" and "probably unlawful".