AN ENVIRONMENTAL activist’s police-imposed ban has been reversed after police admitted they “acted improperly”.

Sam Knights, member of environmental group Extinction Rebellion, was initially refused entry to the Labour Party conference, which opened at the Brighton Centre today.

But after a legal appeal against Sussex Police, the ban was overturned for Mr Knights, a Labour Party member.

The 23-year-old activist said on Twitter: “Last night, I requested an emergency judicial review following my ban from the Labour Party conference.

“This morning, the police conceded they acted improperly.”

Lawyer Ravi Naik, who represented Mr Knights, added on Twitter: “On the day of the climate strike, the police tried to stop a key member of Extinction Rebellion from attending the Labour conference.

“Pleased to say our client Sam Knights is now going to conference.”

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “Accreditation to the Labour Party conference is a partnership activity between the force, the National Accreditation Team and the party, working to an established, nationally agreed framework.

“We will not discuss details of individual applications, but acknowledge that there have been two challenges out of more than 13,500 applications, one of which has now been resolved.

“In that case, we reviewed our decision and that person has now been accredited for access.”