FIVE activists were arrested outside a detention centre in County Durham after attempting to thwart the removal of vulnerable women to Ghana and Nigeria. 

Dozens of protesters blocked the entrances to Derwentside removal centre, near Consett, from 11am to 7pm on Wednesday, in a bid to prevent coaches picking up and transporting women facing deportation to west Africa. 

Thirteen people held at the women-only detention site had been due to be removed on the flight on Wednesday evening, according to campaigners. But it is thought just three were deported following legal challenges.