Police have admitted using force 165 times in just 19 days of the Rolling Resistance against frack mining at Preston New Road, Lanchashire, underlining what protectors have been saying for weeks about officers acting as enforcers for drill firm Cuadrilla rather than keeping any peace.

The report comes just days after the latest incident at the site, which won national attention last month as near-daily lock-ons forced financially-troubled Cuadrilla to sneak equipment onto its site via an illegal early-morning move and pressured supporting firms to back out. A protector was allegedly left with a broken rib after being kicked by an officer on August 1st:

Cuadrilla has stepped up its efforts to bring in heavy drilling equipment now that the main bulk of the Rolling Resistance has ended, and has been backed by increasingly direct police activity now that the media cameras are mostly pointed elsewhere.