A COMPANY has decided to stop supplying a controversial research laboratory with equipment after being targeted by animal rights activists.

Alpha Electronics, on the Wren Industrial Estate, off Coldred Road, Park Wood, Maidstone, made the decision on Monday.

It followed a scuffle outside its premises last week during a demonstration by five members of the Maidstone branch of SHAC - Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty. A further protest organised for Tuesday was cancelled following the firm's decision.

The protesters claimed the electronics company calibrated test equipment for Huntingdon Life Sciences, a product testing laboratory near Cambridge that admits to using animals in a wide range of experiments.

Frank Morris, managing director of Alpha Electronics, said its business with the laboratory amounted to just £1,000 a year and was not worth the disruption to business.