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Hundreds of people marched from Hove into the city centre this afternoon, protesting measures put in place to combat the spread of Covid-19.

Sussex Police said around 250 people, claiming to be ‘the 99 per cent’, attended the demonstration and four men were taken into custody.

A 57 and 20-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of assaulting two police officers who suffered minor injuries.

63,506 people have died in the UK after testing positive for Covid-19

One 61-year-old man was detained on suspicion of committing a public order offence and another man, 25, was arrested on suspicion of breaching Covid-19 legislation.

All four remain in custody, police said.

Chief Superintendent Jane Derrick said: “We still remain in a global pandemic an there are rules and regulations in place to protect our communities and help prevent the spread of the virus.

“People have the right to protest and this is a well-established and key part of our democracy. However Coronavirus is a deadly disease and there are restrictions in place to prevent its spread and ensure our local business can remain open for trading.

“We made four arrests today and we are continuing to investigate the organisation of this event to determine whether there have been any further breaches of the Covid legislation.

“We would like to thank the community of Brighton for their patience while this event took place which caused some disruption to the city centre.”

Placards and chants at the protest revealed demonstrators wanted to ‘take back their freedom’, with claims the pandemic is a hoax, a vaccine is unnecessary and masks are to be rejected.

A total of 63,506 people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus.

Brighton and Hove currently sits in Tier 2 social restrictions, with an infection rate of 65 positive cases per 100,000 people – less than half the national average of 134.

Four arrested at anti-vaccination protest in Sussex after police officers assaulted