This is not a letter from some kind of anarchist who feels hard done by because he could not burn down a bank - but rather a stereotypical middle-aged citizen who felt the wrath of the state at first-hand on Saturday.

I was brought up to believe that the benefits we have in this country are because we have a system whereby we can freely question those in power. Sadly the demonstration I attended on Saturday did not represent those values.

The anti-war group Smash EDO gathered at Churchill Square in Brighton to demonstrate against Moulsecoomb factory EDO MBM technology which makes bomb-release components for fighter jets.

I was hemmed in and made to feel like a criminal for expressing a point of view dear to my heart.

Being shoved around, shouted at and generally overwhelmed by police does not facilitate free speech.

I travelled to the demonstration by bus and was shocked, as were many others on the bus, by the heavy police presence. There were helicopters, coaches and riot police - so many in fact that we were advised to leave the bus halfway down Western Road due to the congestion caused. This was not appreciated by elderly Christmas shoppers. All this for 150 protesters at the most!

Many shoppers on Saturday saw the police presence and feared there was a major alert. Sussex police should be far more sensitive to these concerns.

I do not deny we live in an age of heightened security but this should not equate to the silencing of free speech.

Our country was built on tolerance. Let's keep it that way.

-Mr D Caithness, Hove