Brighton and Hove on alert as protesters prepare to invade

7:00am Monday 4th May 2009

By Naomi Loomes

Brighton and Hove was today preparing for an invasion of thousands of protesters in what is expected to be the biggest demonstration the city has ever seen.

The Mayday march organised by peace campaign group Smash EDO is theoretically aimed at the Brighton-based defence manufacturer EDO MBM/ITT.

Thousands more people are expected to arrive in the city to aim their anger not at EDO but at firms across Brighton and Hove which campaigners say have links to it.

Business leaders spoke of their concern that small firms could lose trade because shoppers will steer of the city during the demonstrations.

But Smash EDO criticised Sussex Police for sending officers to stake out a meeting of the protest organisers yesterday.

A specialist team from the Metropolitan Police carrying cameras set up outside The Cowley Club in London Road, Brighton, to try to collect clues as to what could happen today.

A police spokesman said the unit had been used because of the organisers refusing to meet with senior officers before the protest.

He said: “This was to support police objectives of balancing a safe event with the rights of those who wish to protest.”

Smash EDO spokesman Andrew Beckett said: "Police were waiting outside the front and rear doors watching people go in and out while taking notes.

The campaign group has refused to communicate with police over the planned demo and last night said it would not release the details of where the protest would be or how many people would be attending until the early hours of this morning.

At the same time police have refused to say how many officers will be deployed for the march or where they anticipate the hotspots to be.

Smash EDO published a map on its website of more than 30 businesses - including most major banks, American Express, McDonald's and Brighton and Hove City Council’s headquarters in Bartholomew Square - as a target list for demonstrators.

A McDonald's spokesman said it would be prepared for any problems at its restaurants in Western Road, Churchill Square and London Road.

American Express and Lloyds TSB said they would also be tightening up security in case their sites were targeted.

Paul Hills, the managing director of EDO MBM, said the factory in Home Farm Road, Mouslecoomb, would have heightened security in place for the protest.

There are fears traffic will be brought to a standstill if the march means roads are closed unexpectedly.

At the Smash EDO protest last October, Lewes Road was shut causing chaos for drivers and bus passengers.

Roger French, the managing director of Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company, said: “We are able to organise appropriate diversions if we know what is going on in advance - as was the case with the children’s parade on Saturday.

“You have to remember that while thousands want to take part, thousands more don’t and they still need to be able to go about their normal Bank Holiday.

“We are working closely with police and are now wired up to a live CCTV camera so we can divert buses as soon as roads are closed.

“If somewhere like Western Road, North Street or Lewes Road shuts we have planned diversions along the seafront in place.

“We’ve brought in extra drivers and buses to ensure we maintain our service.”

Tony Mernagh, the chief executive of the Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership, said struggling small businesses in the city would be the victims if protesters caused a disturbance.

He said: “The police have said they are not anticipating any violence. We are advising businesses that it should be business as normal.

“We have to make the distinction between disruption and violence and we don’t believe the protest group will want to create violence in the city centre. That would go against what they are trying to achieve.

“There will be some anti-capitalists among them but we expect it to be peaceful.”

Will you be joining the crowds? Send us your photographs to news@theargus.co.uk or text them to 80360 with the word SUPIC in the message.