ANIMAL rights campaigners brought Oxford to a standstill as they staged their biggest protest march through the city.

About 1,000 people turned out last Saturday afternoon to protest against Oxford University continuing work on its £18m animal research laboratory in South Parks Road.

Brandishing placards, blowing whistles and sounding klaxons, the demonstrators demanded the attention of passing shoppers and tourists.

Crowds of people lined the streets to witness the march as it progressed from Broad Street where a rally was held from 1pm through Turl Street to High Street.

In High Street, buses were forced to queue the length of the road while protesters marched towards Magdalen Bridge, The Plain and into Cowley Place.

From there, the protesters some dressed in blood-spattered lab coats, others carrying toy monkeys trapped in cages returned across Magdalen Bridge, turning into Longwall Street, Holywell Street and Parks Road before ending the march in Keble Road, just a few hundred metres from the laboratory site.

No arrests were made.

Mel Broughton, of the animal rights group Speak, led the march around the city.

Afterwards he said: "It has gone very well and been orderly and organised. This was all about showing the public how much support we have for our cause and we've done that effectively. But this is only a part of what has been more than a two-year long campaign, which we will continue to fight day after day."

Unlike the previous march in January, at which five people were arrested, this one passed peacefully.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: "We are really pleased with the way it went.

"It was all peaceful and they were able to demonstrate without causing massive problems. Of course, there were times when traffic around the city was slowed down as a result, we always knew there would be some points of disruption with a march this size."

Many traders in the city centre said the protest march caused a major downturn in trade.

The owner of a shop in Broad Street, who did not want to be named, said her business had suffered as a result.

She said: "I think a lot of shoppers might have felt intimidated.

"Usually there are a lot of people browsing and just milling around on a Saturday, but not today.

"It's very quiet in here."

And as the protest passed through Holywell Street, the manager of the Holywell Bar and Restaurant, Chris Henderson, locked his doors.

He said: "This march has destroyed my business today."