Fifteen arrested following protest at dairy plant near Bridgwater

**This statement was updated at 5.35pm**

A total of 15 people have been arrested following a protest at a dairy plant near Bridgwater.

Chief Inspector Dan Forster said: “A small number of people accessed the private site at just after 6am yesterday morning.

“Seven people were arrested yesterday while a further eight have been taken into custody today.

“They have been arrested on suspicion of offences including aggravated trespass, criminal damage and conspiracy to commit criminal damage.

“Six of those arrested – all men – have since been bailed with conditions while the others, six men and three woman, remain in custody.

“Specialist resources, including the Protest Removal Team, were brought in to assist with the policing response after the protesters climbed on top of objects and locked themselves to them.

“The protest caused minimal disruption to plant operations and thankfully did not have any impact on the wider public or cause any issues on the surrounding roads.

“We’re working with the owners of the plant to ensure it has adequate security in place to prevent people gaining unauthorised access in the future as enquiries into this protest are carried out.

“We fully respect the fundamental democratic right to protest, but where criminal offences are being committed we’ll always seek to use the powers available to us to take robust action, as we have done in this operation.”