GMB official Phil Whitehurst was arrested yesterday by Humberside Police for a public order offence outside the Saltend plant near Hull.
A national official of a leading trade union was arrested yesterday at the site of a new bio-ethanol plant which has been at the centre of an increasingly bitter row over jobs.
Sources said GMB official Phil Whitehurst was arrested by Humberside Police under Section 14 of the Public Order Act outside the plant at Saltend, near Hull.
Mr Whitehurst is due to attend peace talks today in the latest attempt to resolve the dispute, which flared months ago after hundreds of workers were laid off, sparking unofficial industrial action.
A series of demonstrations have been held outside the site and there was a warning yesterday that thousands of workers at power station and oil refinery sites across the UK could be involved in a national day of action.
A Humberside police spokesman said a 56-year-old man had been arrested outside the plant under Section 14 of the Public Order Act and taken to a police station in Hull.
A GMB spokesman said: “Our legal officers have been examining the police use of Section 14 and the union plans to issue a legal challenge.”
“GMB will challenge any charge in the courts and is preparing a complaint to the Police Complaints Authority, in relation to the provocative and overbearing policing of this dispute.”