Manchester town hall was put in lockdown throughout yesterday afternoon after anti-cuts protestors tried to storm the council building.
Councillors are thought to have been barricaded in the building for almost two hours as police officers worked to prevent activists from entering the local authority building.
City council leader, Sir Richard Leese, branded the protestors ‘thugs’ and accused them of assaulting employees and damaging property - the Manchester Evening News reports.
The protest began as a peaceful rally against homelessness funding cuts yet escalated as anti-austerity demonstrators attempted to access the town hall.
At least one window was broken during the incident, which took place on Wednesday afternoon.
Leese said: ‘This was not a protest. It was a gang of thugs who physically forced their way into the town hall causing damage, distress to town hall staff and members of the public who were going about their business and assaulting security staff.
‘At no point either before or since have they given a coherent explanation of why they were there. I find it remarkable that no arrests have been made.’
Assistant chief constable Rebekah Sutcliffe from Greater Manchester Police said: ‘Whilst the majority of people protesting were doing so in a peaceful manner, a number of individuals decided to go beyond this and began to participate in disorder which resulted in criminal damage to the town hall and a number of assaults.
‘This is totally unacceptable behaviour and Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council will be working together to identify these individuals in order that they can be prosecuted.
‘The actions of this small group have only gone towards undermining the issues which the majority of people demonstrating were trying to highlight.’
Photo: @Olliemanco
