DEMONSTRATORS from Preston's Action For Animals Group gathered outside the town's Royal Bank of Scotland to protest at the bank's involvement with an animal testing organisation.

The protest in Fishergate was part of a nationwide campaign at branches in protest of the treatment of animals held at Huntington Life Sciences, in Cambridge.

Action For Animals campaigners say the organisation has a £22.4m overdraft with the Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest Bank.

Recently their month-by-month finance deal was reviewed by the high street lenders and the loan was secured for a further four-week term.

Members of the Action For Animals protest group have accused the banks of being "partners in animal torture" and want funding to the animal testing organisation pulled.

Ian Richards of Preston Action for Animals said: "We are trying to highlight the problems at Huntington and just want to help the animals. It's about time the banks stopped the overdraft."

Peter Appleton, spokesman for the Royal Bank of Scotland, said: "We've been involved with Huntington Life Sciences for some months. We would like to apologise to our customers for any inconveniences the protests caused."