PROTESTORS clashed with police at Lewisham Town Hall last night as councillors met to approve cuts.

Police with shields and batons attempted to hold back around one hundred protestors who were trying to get into the Catford council chamber.

Lewisham Council had attempted to put in tight security with people being searched on their way in to the building.

Before the meeting students, unionists and campaigners held a peaceful protest outside the town hall.

However trouble seemed to flare when the crowds were told the number of people allowed to enter the public gallery would be restricted.

Ex-councillor Sue Luxton, who saw the scenes unfold, said protestors had been angered that the meeting would not be shown on camera in an overflow room.

She said: “They weren’t being allowed in at all so they got angry and decided to go in anyway.

“There was some quite forceful policing.

“I think the police were a little taken aback by what happened.”

Some protestors who gained entry to the foyer let off smoke bombs and a window was smashed, leading to a stand off with police inside the building.

The Met’s Territorial Support Unit along with were called to the scene to help deal with the protest , while Catford Road was closed off to traffic and police dogs and horses were called in.

A Met Police spokesman said 15 officers were injured in the violence, with one being treated in hospital for a broken finger and another treated for smoke inhalation.

Three men an one woman were arrested at the hall. A 21-year-old man and a 36-year-old were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder, with the latter also suspected of trespass.

One 28-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon while the 31-year-old woman suspected of aggravated trespassing.

The meeting had been due to begin at 7.30pm but was delayed after protestors let off a smoke bomb, starting off a fire alarm while the stand-off in the foyer continued.

One man climbed up on to the roof of the town hall to drape a banner. Another hung on to a camera attached to the council chamber’s public gallery and had to be hauled down by police and handcuffed as the meeting eventually resumed.

The meeting had been due to begin at 7.30pm but was delayed after protestors let off a smoke bomb, starting off a fire alarm while the stand-off in the foyer continued.

One man climbed up on to the roof of the town hall to drape a banner.

Another hung on to a camera attached to the council chamber’s public gallery and had to be hauled down by police and handcuffed as the meeting eventually resumed.

All Labour councillors present backed the £16.3m cuts package which includes the closure of Amersham Early Years Centre, cuts to wardens, street cleaning and hundreds of job losses.

The Lib Dems abstained while only Green councillor Darren Johnson and the two Tories Cllr Jane Allison and Cllr David Britton voted against.

Mayor of Lewisham Sir Steve Bullock, who blames slashes in Government funding for the cuts, warned the councillors that savings over the next three years could total £78m.

He said: “What we’re talking about very probably is the end of local government as we have known it.”

But leader of Lewisham Lib Dems Councillor Chris Maines told the meeting that the council should be looking to save money on consultants, citing the example of one who earned £384,000 from Lewisham last year.

He said: “It’s quite improper that the council are paying people over £300,000 a year as consultants.

“In this day and age it’s unfortunate that they’re taking so much out of the public purse.”

Cllr Johnson called for “more imaginative” alternatives like cutting senior pay and working more closely with other public bodies.

He told them: “I despair of the way that Labour is dealing with these cuts locally.

“There are too many deep cuts here to local services.”

Throughout the meeting there was a siege like atmosphere with councillors being regularly updated on the situation outside, the doors of the chamber being locked.

Just one person - former mayoral candidate and People Before Profit campaigner John Hamilton - was able to get back into the public gallery.

When the meeting did end councillors were given a police escort out of the building to prevent them being attacked, even though the crowd had dispersed.