Faslane protest costs police £5m

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The cost of policing anti-nuclear protests at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde has reached Â£5m, new figures have shown.

A campaign to stage daily protests at the base began last October.

Statistics compiled ahead of a meeting of the Strathclyde Joint Police Board showed up to 150 officers had been on duty at the base at any one time.

The daily blockade of the base, organised by the Faslane 365 group, is due to finish at the end of this month.

The figures show that policing costs reached a peak of Â£1.7m in October.

The number of officers needed at the site has varied from an average of about 150 in October to lows of between 20 and 90 since March.

Much of the money has been spent on overtime payments to officers.

More than 110 groups from around the world have taken part in the protests, leading to more than 900 arrests.

The campaign has included sit-down protests and people chaining themselves to fences in a bid to cause disruption to work at the base.