A Midlands police force has welcomed Government plans to introduce new powers to arrest animal rights extremists who protest outside the homes of people involved in legitimate animal testing. Activists have waged a campaign against Darley Oaks Farm, in Newchurch, Staffordshire, for almost five years because it supplies guinea pigs to the controversial Huntingdon Life Sciences complex in Cambridgeshire. Staffordshire Police is one of only two police forces - the other is Cambridgeshire - to have received dedicated Home Office grants of more than £500,000 to deal with animal rights activists. Some of the offences committed by the extremists include cutting off electricity supplies in the Staffordshire area and digging up swathes of Branston Golf Course, causing £10,000 worth of damage because one of the Hall family, who run the farm, was a member of the golf club. Protesters have campaigned outside the farm, near Lichfield, almost every day for five years. The new crackdown will give officers the power to ban activists from protesting out-side someone's home for three months. The proposals were set out in the Government paper 'Animal Welfare: Human Rights - Protecting People from Animal Rights Extremists' released yesterday. Insp David Bird, from the Environmental Protest Unit at Staffordshire Police Force, said: "Staffordshire is one of the main target areas by animal rights extremists because of the farm at Newchurch which has been the subject of a campaign by animal rights activists for more than four years. "The report is welcomed by us. It is important that there are stringent controls put in place which allow peaceful protest but control harassment and intimidation. The new moves will make it an offence for a person to protest outside someone's home "for the purpose of persuading the resident, or anyone else, that he should not do something he is entitled to do". Insp Bird said: "In some places it is appropriate to engage in lawful protests as part of political debate - like outside a place of work. But it can never be right to protest outside someone's home, intimidating their friends, neighbours and visitors." Police currently have the power to give a "direction" telling protesters outside someone's home to leave. Ignoring this direction is a criminal offence, but extremists have been able to leave and return a few hours later. Now police will be able to take action against any protesters who are told to leave but return within three months. The paper also said Ministers were considering making it an offence to cause "economic damage to the suppliers of firms or research groups" engaged in legitimate animal research. Insp Bird said extremists had increasingly focused on customers and suppliers of vivi-section firms in an attempt to drive them out of business. The 1997 Protection from Harassment Act will be extended to cover harassment of two or more people who are connected, such as employees of the same company. At present it only applies to campaigns which target individuals. A Home Office spokesman said it will apply even if each individual is harassed on only one occasion. | 
