Police and Ayr officials praised for dealing with protest in ‘very efficient manner’

Animal rights protesters attempted to disrupt the Coral Scottish Grand National on Saturday.

Just seven days on from the scenes at Aintree which saw the Grand National delayed by around 15 minutes, a handful of people broke on to the track at Ayr before the scheduled 3.35pm start time of the big race.

However, as soon as they were on the track, the protesters – some pictured sporting pink Animal Rising T-shirts – were tackled by security staff and police and the matter was soon brought under control.

There was an increased security presence due to last week’s protest where 118 arrests were made by Merseyside Police.

Ayr’s managing director David Brown praised the swift action of the police and security teams on course.

He said: “The police and security dealt with it like the consummate professionals that they are.

“The race went off to time, there was no notable delay and the professionalism of the team up here in Scotland was a credit to them, they dealt with it in a very efficient manner.

“What a great race it was and a great story, for Christian Williams to win it for the second year in a row with Kitty’s Light, after he finished second last year. I think for me this is Scotland’s showpiece race and it all ran to time.”

A tweet from Police Scotland read: “We are responding to a protest which is ongoing at Ayr Racecourse this afternoon. A significant operation is under way to safely remove those involved. A number of arrests have been made and an increased police presence remains at the scene.”