A “DRACONIAN” injunction against striking security guards at Great Ormond Street Hospital gives a “sneak preview” of the Tory policing Bill’s widely condemned crackdown on protests, trade unionists warned today.

The United Voices of the World (UVW) union, representing the outsourced workers at the London children’s hospital, said the High Court’s decision to grant management’s application for an emergency ban on further demonstrations could set a “terrifying NHS precedent.”

The interim order, banning “loud noises” and “vigorous dancing” within 200 metres of the site, was issued on Thursday after the guards, who are employed by Carlisle Support Services, began six weeks of strikes to demand the same working conditions as in-house colleagues.