The ongoing animal rights protest known as Camp Beagle, which has maintained a 24/7 presence outside the MBR Acres beagle breeding facility in Wyton near Huntingdon since June 2021, has cost Cambridgeshire Constabulary between £1.47 million and £2.15 million according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Based on the FOI response letter, the overall cost of police overtime for the Camp Beagle protest is £500,000.
The protest, which began on 27 June 2021, has seen a permanent encampment established outside the controversial facility, with campaigners holding vigils, demonstrations, and occasional direct actions. The site has become a focal point for the national debate over animal testing, with MBR Acres breeding beagles for use in laboratory research.
Significant policing costs revealed
The figures, provided by Cambridgeshire Constabulary in response to a Freedom of Information request by CambsNews, reveal the scale of the resources required to facilitate lawful protest, ensure public safety, and maintain access to the site. The costs cover the period from the protest’s inception in June 2021 through to the end of September 2025.
According to the Constabulary, the total cost of policing Camp Beagle falls somewhere between £1,470,095 and £2,148,030.
The lower figure represents costs directly coded to the specific job code for the protest, while the higher figure includes additional costs from “Days of Action”—major protest days where not all officer time is coded to the job.
The force notes that some costs may be duplicated between these two accounting methods, and that identifying exact overlaps would require manual checking of thousands of timesheets, a task deemed unfeasible within the time limits of an FOI request.
Breakdown of costs
The FOI response provides a detailed breakdown of the costs associated with policing the protest:
- Action/Protest Days (June 2021 – September 2025): £677,935
- Officer plain time (officers already scheduled to work): £440,015
- Officer overtime: £212,222
- Mutual aid (support from other forces): £25,232
- Other non-pay costs (food, hire cars, welfare vans, etc.): £466
- Total Actuals Under Job Code (2021 – September 2025): £1,470,094.70
- Pay costs: £1,176,109.78
- Overtime: £282,568.58
- Travel: £3,480.38
- Subsistence & accommodation: £2,101.82
- Other non-pay costs: £5,834.14
The force explains that the “Day of Action” costs include officers who may have been temporarily assigned to the protest but whose time was not specifically coded to the job code, while the job code figures reflect officers formally allocated to the operation and overtime that has been properly recorded.
Annual trends show fluctuating costs
The data also reveals how the costs have varied year by year, reflecting the ebb and flow of protest activity and policing requirements.
For “Action/Protest Days” only, the annual breakdown is as follows:
- 2021/22: £344,751
- 2022/23: £101,205
- 2023/24: £4,006
- 2024/25: £84,424
- 2025/26 (to date): £143,549
The largest expenditure occurred in the first year of the protest, with costs dropping significantly in subsequent years, before rising again in 2025/26.
For the total actuals under the job code, the annual breakdown is:
- 2021/22: £294,945
- 2022/23: £574,472
- 2023/24: £315,731
- 2024/25: £246,207
- 2025/26 (to date): £38,740
The highest costs were recorded in 2022/23, suggesting a period of intensified policing or protest activity.
No internal reports on financial impact
The FOI response confirms that Cambridgeshire Constabulary holds no internal reports, summaries, or briefings prepared for senior officers or oversight bodies (such as the Police and Crime Commissioner) that discuss or quantify the financial impact of policing Camp Beagle.
The figures provided are described as an “un-audited snapshot of un-published data sourced from ‘live’ systems,” and are subject to the interpretation of the original request by the individual extracting the data.
Context: A long running and contentious protest
Camp Beagle was established in June 2021 in response to concerns about the breeding of beagles for laboratory research at MBR Acres.
The protest has attracted national media attention, with campaigners arguing that the use of dogs in scientific experiments is cruel and unnecessary. The company, for its part, insists that it operates legally and that animal research remains a vital part of medical progress.
The protest has involved a range of activities, from peaceful vigils and demonstrations to more direct actions, including attempts to block the transport of puppies from the facility.
The site has also seen a number of arrests and legal actions, as police have sought to balance the right to protest with the need to maintain public order and ensure the continued operation of the business.
Policing challenges and community Impact
In August, a Cambridgeshire police spokesperson told a local paper: “Our priority has always been to ensure a safe environment for protestors to express their views peacefully and staff at the site to do their work, which is protected under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.
“However, we are duty bound to act if protest activity becomes unreasonable and risks the safety of others.”
The spokesperson added that it had also served community protection warnings to three Camp Beagle activists.
“This is because of behaviour that went beyond peaceful protest in being, on occasions, obstructive, anti-social, and intimidatory.”
What next for Camp Beagle?
As the protest enters its fifth year, there is little sign of an imminent resolution. Campaigners have vowed to maintain their presence outside MBR Acres, while the company continues its operations under the protection of the law. The ongoing costs of policing the protest are likely to remain a subject of public interest and debate.
How the figures were calculated
The Constabulary’s response notes that the total cost is not a simple sum of the two main figures provided, as some costs may be duplicated. A precise total would require a manual audit of thousands of timesheets, which the force says would exceed the time limits for FOI requests.
The figures should therefore be seen as a range, with the true cost likely falling somewhere between £1.47 million and £2.15 million.
