AN ANIMAL rights protestor says they were forced to go to accident and emergency (A&E) after allegedly being hit by a car exiting Charles River Laboratories near Elphinstone yesterday evening (Tuesday).

Rachel Campbell, 28, travelled to the facility from her home in Glasgow yesterday evening to take part in a silent protest organised by activist group East Lothian Uncaged.

The group is speaking out against animal testing carried out at the medical research facility, a process Charles River previously said was “a vital component” of research studies.

Miss Campbell, who works as a carer and says she is facing the possibility of time off work due to her injuries, told the Courier that she joined the group for a peaceful protest in silence yesterday evening when a man allegedly drove into her.

Miss Campbell, who claimed that there was "plenty of room to go around me", said: “I was just standing there with my sign.

“I was just so shocked, I didn’t see it coming.

"He hit my legs and I felt myself forced back.

"It didn’t knock me over but I managed to get out of the way. I think if I hadn’t been able to move he’d have knocked me down."

"He just drove off and I was in pain.

"We called the police and I went to A&E when I got home.”

Miss Campbell said that she was at A&E at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley for more than five hours, where she was told that she had suffered an injury to her back; she has been given medication.

She said: “We were not being disruptive.

"We have a right to express our opinion freely without violence. We tried to buzz the security at the lab but they didn’t answer us.”

But she said that her injuries would not stop her from returning to protest in the future.

She said: “It certainly won’t stop be going back. I’ll still make sure my voice is heard. This won’t stop me.”

Councillor Lee-Anne Menzies, ward member for Tranent, Wallyford and Macmerry, said: “Any group has the right to protest peacefully and without acts of violence. If this did happen then I trust police will be involved and the right actions will be taken.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 5.30pm on Tuesday, October 31, a report was made to police that a woman had been struck by a car in the area earlier in the day. Enquiries are at a very early stage.”

Charles River Laboratories has been contacted for comment.