Masked men, lorries and road blocks: How anti-migrant activists are changing tactics

Image source, X Image caption, Men coming out of the back of a lorry in Dover ahead of Saturday's protest

At around seven o'clock last Saturday morning, dozens of men dressed in black climbed into the backs of lorries in a quiet Kent village called Preston-next-Wingham.

The men had arrived under cover of darkness the night before, leaving their cars everywhere: in the village hall car park and on the recreation ground.

In an operation with a degree of military precision, the small fleet of lorries departed for Dover just after sunrise, where the men staged an intimidating show of strength near the port.

In disciplined, serried ranks, they wore paramilitary-style balaclavas as they blocked roads around the port. There were at least three waves of arrivals, including the men who had spent the night in Preston-next-Wingham. Glaring ominously at motorists and police officers, they stood their ground.