Police in London said Saturday they had made over 60 arrests and expected that figure to rise, as they tried to break up anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine protests.
According to police, the arrests had been made for different offences including breaching coronavirus restrictions. England’s current lockdown ends on Dec. 2.
Earlier, police lined up in a number of streets in central London’s West End shopping district and confronted crowds of protesters in St James’s Park, near Westminster. The anti-lockdown protesters were joined by groups who oppose the COVID-19 vaccine.
One police officer estimated the protesters, who held up signs saying “Defend Freedom, Defend Humanity”, numbered between 300 and 400.
More than 20 million people across large swathes of mainly northern England will be forced to live under the toughest category of COVID-19 restrictions when a national lockdown ends on Dec. 2.
Lawmakers are due to vote on the restrictions the day before.
