Animal rights protesters are preparing to march on an Oxford University laboratory.

According to organisers, almost 200 people have arrived in Oxpens Meadow ready for the march to the Biomedical Sciences Building in South Parks Road at 1.30pm.

The activists will walk through city centre streets including Cornmarket to the laboratory and protest outside.

The World Day for Animals in Laboratories event will begin with speeches at 12.30pm.

Organiser Steve Magee, from Oxford, said: “At the moment there’s about 175 to 200 people here, but I’ve had people on the phone who are on their way.”

Event organisers say they are planning a peaceful protest and have liaised with Thames Valley Police over the route of the march.

Oxford University said earlier that it is committed to high standards of animal welfare when research is being carried out and that almost all the animals used in Oxford-based research are mice.