POLICE say nine people arrested after an investigation into animal rights extremism have been charged with conspiracy to blackmail or blackmail.

Officers swooped on at least one address in Kent during a special early morning operation on Tuesday.

About 700 police officers and support staff raided addresses in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands leading to 32 arrests.

Now 20 people have been released on police bail and a man from Glasgow has been released without charge. Police have been granted further time to question two others.

The Crown Prosecution Service said seven people have been charged with conspiracy to blackmail and two others are facing individual offences of blackmail.

Apart from Kent, other addresses raided and searched were in Berkshire, Lancashire, London, Merseyside, Northumbria, Oxford, Surrey, Sussex, Worcestershire, Yorkshire, Glasgow and Aberdare, south Wales.

Two unnamed locations in the Netherlands and one in Belgium were also raided but no arrests were made.

The seven people charged with conspiracy to blackmail have been named as: Daniel Amos, 20, and Gerrah Selby, 19, both of Church Crookham, Hants; Linus Harrison, 21, and Grace Quantock, 19, both of Wokingham, Berks; Stephen Barclay, 50, of Redbridge Hollow, Oxford; Gavin Medd-Hall, 44, of Croydon, London, and Daniel Wadham, 20, of Brynmair, Aberdare.

They have all been released on conditional bail ahead of an appearance at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court on May 15.

The two charged with blackmail are Dianne Jamieson, 59, of Ashton-on-Ribble, Lancashire who is on conditional bail to appear at Preston Magistrates' Court on a date to be confirmed, and Suzanne Jaggers, 35, of Skipton, Yorkshire.

Ms Jaggers is being held in custody pending an appearance at Skipton Magistrates' Court.