Two remanded on Buckingham Palace charge

Two suspected anti-Government protesters were charged today with trespassing at Buckingham Palace.

Matthew Bellis, 26, and Laurence Flanders, 20, were arrested by Metropolitan Police officers yesterday morning.

They were held as they apparently tried to talk their way inside at the staff entrance to the Palace, on Buckingham Palace Road.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the pair appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court this afternoon.

They were charged with trespassing on a site protected under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.

Bellis, of Brendon Close, Harlington, Hayes, and Flanders, of Ridgemont Road, Stroud, Gloucestershire, were remanded in custody until next Thursday.

It is understood the men were carrying political banners criticising Government cuts and accusing politicians of lying.

Flanders had travelled to the capital to attend a meeting of the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts.

Police have begun preparations for a fresh wave of protests against proposals to increase the cost of higher education later this month.