CAMPAIGNERS against the road widening scheme at Cuckoo Corner halted a council meeting.

The protesters heckled Anna Waite, cabinet member for planning, as she tried to respond to a question by a Labour councillor about the number of trees to be felled as part of the scheme.

The full council meeting was halted for 20 minutes after the group in the public gallery unveiled a banner calling for Mrs Waite and council leader Nigel Holdcroft to resign and threw leaflets into the chamber with the same message.

The protesters, who have vowed to chain themselves to the trees and have set up camp at the site, were escorted from the council chamber at the Civic Centre in Southend and the police were called.