Green MP Caroline Lucas and others arrested at an anti-fracking protest in Balcolmbe, West Sussex, last August appeared in court yesterday.

Supporters gathered outside Brighton magistrates' court as the Brighton Pavilion MP and four others faced charges of wilfully obstructing the highway and breaking section 14 of the Public Order Act.

Demonstrators had gathered in the village of Balcombe in protest against energy firm Cuadrilla's fracking test site there.