Animal rights victory

Fears of violence by animal rights activists have stopped Cambridge University scientists experimenting on monkeys.

The university wanted to build a £25 million laboratory to run tests on the animals in its search for a cure for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

But dons today admitted they cannot afford the cost of trying to guard against attack from animal rights groups who have waged a campaign of protest and intimidation against laboratories across the country. "We can't afford to build and run Fort Knox," conceded a university spokesman .

The news is a major blow to the Government, the university and scientific establishment which hailed the centre as crucially important to research into some of the most prevalent and currently incurable diseases in Britain.

The centre was even backed by Tony Blair, who has spoken passionately about the dangers of allowing scientific research to be impeded by activists.

However, Wendy Higgins, campaigns director for the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV), hailed the decision as "great news".

"Whatever the reason for Cambridge doing this, it will save the lives of thousands of monkeys and we would sincerely hope the Government and the research establishment would now think twice about this kind of proposal again."

The university had to rely on Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to approve its initial plans for the laboratory on the northern outskirts of Cambridge after local police and council chiefs objected. They said they feared violent protests and "serious danger to public safety".

But now the university says it cannot afford the extra £8 million annual security bill and will not go ahead.

It is illegal to experiment on large apes in Britain but more than 3,000 tests are carried out each year on smaller species.

The Cambridge scientists planned to experiment on macaque and marmoset monkeys and the laboratory would have been built close to the intersection of the M11 and A14.

The scale of the security measures needed was made clear to the university by the protests surrounding the nearby Huntingdon Life Sciences laboratory.

Its staff conduct experiments on thousands of animals and they have been targeted by protesters for seven years. Some have been attacked, others sent threatening letters and had their cars torched. It is now unclear whether or where monkey testing will continue in Britain.

However, BUAV believes the Government will now use scientific facilities at military installations such as Porton Down in Wiltshire. "Our fear is that the Government will now do this in secret rather than taking account of public opinion," said Ms Higgins.