skip ad

Campaigners have scaled a crane opposite the Houses of Parliament in an apparent protest over the EU Treaty.

Activists climbed the crane shortly after 2am before unravelling banners proclaiming "Referendum Now" and "Give Us Our Vote".

It comes two days before MPs are set to vote on a Conservative amendment to the EU Treaty Bill, calling for a referendum on the issue.

Police were called to Middlesex Guildhall in Parliament Square, central London, at 2.20am and found a group of protesters at the scene.

Two male activists had managed to climb the structure and unfurl their banners from scaffolding on the crane.

The incident follows a report suggesting the majority of Britons believe there should be a national referendum on the document known as the Lisbon Treaty.

The Lisbon Treaty was drawn up after voters in two EU member states - France and the Netherlands - rejected an earlier European Constitution.

Critics of the replacement treaty claim it is merely a "rebadged" version of the scrapped constitution and should only be ratified after a referendum.

All three main parties promised a referendum on the constitution in their 2005 election manifestos.

But Prime Minister Gordon Brown says the Lisbon Treaty does not have the same constitutional significance and should be ratified by Parliament.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.