SEVENTEEN people have been charged after anti-deportation protesters locked themselves to a plane at Stansted Airport.
Essex Police have charged nine women and eight men with obstructing a person engaged in lawful activity and taking part in a demonstration likely to obstruct Stansted Airport.
Flights were temporarily suspended at Stansted Airport on Tuesday evening after protesters entered a secure area and erected a blockade near a non-commercial runway.
Campaign group Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants (LGSMigrants) said some of its members, along with individuals from End Deportations and Plane Stupid, were behind the bid to halt a "mass deportation flight" destined for Nigeria.
Police said the arrested group, aged between 23 and 46, lived in the London area, including addresses in Leytonstone, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Greenwich.
They have been bailed to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on May 3.
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