POLICE besieged a democracy festival and arrested visitors this weekend as the Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary celebrations took place mere steps away from its campsite.

Officers turned away all comers to the Runnymede Festival for Democracy, which took place at a local eco-village, because the event was “unlicensed and unregulated.”

Eight people were also arrested, with activists urging the force to “stop over-reaching powers and respect the law.”

The sustainable community based near the signing site of the Magna Carta hosted a series of workshops on democracy and human rights, with a series of writers, academics and high profile campaigners billed on the programme.

New Putney Debates speaker Julie Timbrell told the Star that police intervention had denied “us our hard-won right of freedom of association.

“Magna Carta was won through protest by the barons and common people against arbitrary abuse by the king.

“We represent the people but, now, as the Queen prepares to celebrate in Runnymede field, the forces of the crown are turning away democracy speakers from our festival in the neighbouring forest.

“It appears that only the barons on the invite of the Queen have the right to celebrate the Magna Carta.”

A spokeswoman for Surrey Police said that “it carefully considered the information and reports received in relation to the proposed activity” before making use of Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act.

The law is usually used to shut down raves and other open-air “amplified music” events that might cause “serious distress to the inhabitants of the locality.”

According to organisers, the “eco-village have met with both representatives of the council and local residents, who were all happy for the event to go ahead.”

They added: “It is particularly sad and inappropriate that the police are choosing to exceed their legal powers to prevent an event celebrating the importance of democracy and the rule of law.”

But police said that a sound system had already been removed from the scene with the compliance of the eco-villagers.