ANIMAL rights protesters pushed the legal limits as far as they could in support of colleagues carrying out a large demonstration in Oxford.

Several hundred supporters of Speak, the organisation fighting the completion of Oxford University's new biomedical research laboratory in South Parks Road, held a march through the city centre on Saturday, holding up traffic and diverting the resouces of up to 100 police officers.

Meanwhile Speak's main spokesman, Mel Broughton, and 19 other leading activists banned from protesting within the city under court bail conditions, held separate protests at various locations around the Oxford ring road.

Although Mr Broughton, who has spoken out at several rallies over the past two years, was unable to join the marchers as they gathered at Oxpens, a statement was read out to the large gathering which braved heavy downpours of rain and faced a large visible police presence, including roads policing officers, mounted police, and many officers with cameras recording the event and those taking part.

Mr Broughton later disputed police estimates of the protestors as about 400, and said that his supporters on the ground claimed the gathering had been twice as large.

He said: "They've imposed bail conditions on me and 19 others which stop us from entering Oxford past the ring road. So three groups of us held our own protests from about 20 different places."

A police van with a CCTV camera on its roof led the march of activists as it made its way to South Parks Road with horns, drums and whistles via George Street and St Giles.