Dozens of seafood lorries, including a number from Scottish companies, have descended on central London this morning in a protest at the post-Brexit challenges faced by the UK’s fishing industry.
More than 10 of the vehicles have parked up near Downing Street and Whitehall to raise awareness of paperwork issues that have left seafood exporters struggling to survive.
Several lorries from Scottish seafood suppliers D.R. Collin & Son, and Islay Crab Exports have also been photographed driving past the Houses of Parliament.
“Incompetent Government destroying shellfish industry,” read a sign on one of the lorries.
“Brexit Carnage,” read another.
It is understood that police officers in the capital have stopped several hauliers to question drivers about their cargo.
One English company involved in the protest insisted it was designed to raise awareness of the “unworkable” system the fishing industry is facing.
“It’s not supposed to be an aggressive protest,” Mark Moore, from the Dartmouth Crab Company, told LBC.
He said “upwards of 50” seafood lorries were in London for the spectacle.
“It is industry-wide and nationwide, it’s not exclusively the Scots – we’re all in this together.
“The system is almost unworkable,” he added, “and our industry is in a downward spiral.”
This video was posted to Facebook by Allan Miller shows some of the trucks involved in the protest.
Since the UK withdrew from the EU, seafood distributors have complained of lorries stuck in central distribution hubs in Scotland while paperwork is processed, or on other stages on the journey, as the stock deteriorates inside.
It is understood that police officers in the capital have stopped several hauliers to question drivers about their cargo.
The introduction of catch certificates, health checks and customs declarations are thought to have created severe delays to export processes.
Reports suggest that produce which has made it across the Channel has gone rotten by the time it arrived.
In Peterhead, the price of fish has fallen by around 80 per cent, and some companies have lost tens of thousands of pounds in a matter of weeks.
