Animal rights protesters were last night blamed for an attempted arson attack on a home linked to a guinea pig breeding centre. Staffordshire Police said army bomb disposal experts were called in after a dozen fireworks were hurled at an address in Burton-on-Trent. About half of them detonated, but no damage was caused and no one was injured, the force said. Officers and experts from the Royal Ordnance were called to Portland Avenue, Branston, at 2 .45 am after receiving reports of explosions. The fireworks had been thrown across the front gardens and driveways of two homes in a row of three properties, and some of the devices had ended up underneath cars. A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: "We are linking the incident to recent animal rights activity and an ongoing campaign of harassment focused on a guinea pig breeding centre in Newchurch, near Burton. "One of the three properties involved has links to that business." Part of Portland Avenue remained sealed off yesterday while investigations into the failed attack were carried out. The incident was the latest in a harassment campaign stretching back three years against David Hall & Partners, which breeds guinea pigs for experiments. The spokesman said the targeted house had links to the company. He said the fireworks would now be examined for forensic clues, and appealed for any witnesses to come forward. The same protesters are thought to be responsible for the distribution of leaflets around the town of Chase Terrace, Staffordshire, last month, which wrongly accused a fuel supplier who is a client of the firm of being a convicted paedophile. Inspector David Bird from the environment protest unit at Staffordshire Police condemned the latest attack. He said: "This campaign has been going for about four years, and the protesters have been split into two main groups. "There is the relatively peaceful ones who gather outside the farm every Sunday and who use megaphones and placards to shout abuse at people going there. "And then there is the criminal element which is using the protest as nothing more than a flag of convenience for that activity," he added. "This firework attack was an example, they are using terrorist tactics. "Everyone has a right to their opinion, but in going to these lengths the protesters have clearly overstepped the mark. "They are not protesters, they are criminals." Insp Bird said there was more than one or two individuals responsible. The protesters included activists from all over the UK. He said: "The owners are concerned, but they have their premises checked regularly by Home Office inspectors and as far as they are concerned they are doing nothing wrong. "They believe they are providing a service which is required and will continue to do so in the future." | 
