THE Staffordshire Commissioner has has hit out at the "almost weekly" protests at a Shenstone factory.
Pro-Palestine and anti-war activists have been staging demonstrations at UAV Engines – a subsidiary of Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems – for several years.
Recent protests have been sparked by Israel’s ongoing military action in Gaza.
Nine people from across the country were arrested at the latest demonstration last month.
Staffordshire Commissioner Ben Adams says the regular demonstrations – which he compared to "day trips" for the activists – are costing taxpayers money and drawing police resources away from other parts of the county.
He told the Police, Fire and Crime Panel that his office would be urging the company to consider its options for addressing the demonstrations "very seriously".
Panel chair Cllr Richard Cox raised concerns over the impact of the demonstrations on Staffordshire Police.
He said:
"Whatever the reason for the demonstrations, it pulls resource and the concern then is that the rest of the communities are without their neighbourhood policing.
"Certain areas are subject to those demonstrations, and we clearly have one in Shenstone. They are regular – they’re nearly every week now, and it’s becoming a resource headache for the police."
The commissioner agreed that the protests were causing resource issues for the police, and suggested that while people have a right to demonstrate, the amount of disruption had been "too much".
He said:
"Shenstone has been ongoing for years now. It’s an almost weekly thing.
"The police are arresting people from all over the country. It’s almost like a day trip to cause aggravation in somebody else’s neck of the woods.
"I’m in discussion with the leadership team about this. I think we need to be more transparent around what this is costing. Not just financially – those dozens of officers can’t be somewhere else doing the other jobs we expect them to do.
"Of course we want to protect people’s right to protest. But does a community have to put up with it every single week for six or seven years? I’m not sure they do, quite frankly. People are rightly fed up about it."
The demonstrations at UAV Engines have seen protesters blockade entrances to the factory and chain themselves to gates.
People from as far afield as London, Somerset, Wales and Bolton were arrested at the protest last month.
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