Police were called to a council meeting after it fell into chaos when members of the public walked into the middle of the chamber. 

The incident happened during Tuesday evening's West Suffolk Council meeting in Bury St Edmunds. 

During public questions, one of the individuals addressed the council over a range of topics including climate scepticism, COVID-19 vaccines, the cost-of-living crisis, and the school system’s approach to sex education.

Bury Mercury: Members of the public left peacefully after 30 minutes. Members of the public left peacefully after 30 minutes. (Image: Joao Santos, LDRS)

The man, who had raised similar concerns previously, was not happy with the responses he had received and said it was “like banging my head against a brick wall”.

However, issues began when after the man's allocated five minutes he and another member of the public began to talk over Cllr Roger Dicker, the council's chair, and walked into the middle of the chamber yelling out their concerns once the microphones were turned off.

A suspension of the meeting was issued and all councillors were asked to leave the chamber while the police were called.

The group, which included several other members of the public, left peacefully over 30 minutes later.

The other individual had been refused the right to speak at the meeting due to having already brought up the same topics during previous meetings.

Under the council’s procedure rules, public questions may be rejected if they are “substantially the same” as a question “put at a meeting of the council in the past six months”.

Councillors assured the suspension of meeting and calling of the authorities was not due to the arguments being raised, but instead as a result of the unruly behaviour.