By Jenni Horn

The use of stop and search powers at last year’s Climate Camp at Hoo was “disproportionate and counter productive”, according to an independent report published today.

The full strategic review of police practices during the week-long protest last August was commissioned through the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

It was conducted by Assistant Chief Constable Andy Holt of South Yorkshire Police.

The report follows claims from climate activists who attended the camp that officers used heavy-handed tactics and deliberately abused their stop and search powers to disrupt the protest.

The 36-page report concludes: “The wide scale deployment of stop and search tactics was both disproportionate and counter productive.”

It does praise officers for effectively facilitating the protest march on the day of action and for minimising the impact of the protest on the local community.

Speaking after the report's release, Chief Constable Michael Fuller, said: “I am pleased to note that the review highlighted numerous areas of good practice.

"These included our approach to community engagement, the information pack for visiting forces, traffic management, knowledge and understanding of the sites we were dealing with, intelligence updates, and advance planning and in-force exercise to test our resourcing and contingencies.

“I also recognise the report identifies several areas for learning. While many of the recommendations made to us have already been adopted in the intervening 12 months, there is still work to be done either within Kent or in conjunction with other forces or agencies.

"On that basis I have asked Assistant Chief Constable Andy Adams, who is relatively new to the force, to lead on ensuring all recommendations are properly addressed. This process will be overseen by the Kent Police Authority.”