Hundreds of protesters call for inquiry into 'Battle of Orgreave'

Hundreds of people joined a protest in Sheffield to call for an inquiry into one of the most violent clashes of the miners' strike 39 years ago.

Police confronted pickets outside a coking plant in Orgreave, South Yorkshire, on June 18 1984, in what the miners said was a military-style operation to attack them.

The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC) continues to call for an inquiry and has submitted evidence to the Home Office about why it believes there should be one.

Former miner Kevin Horne, one of 95 miners arrested at the so-called "Battle of Orgreave", said:

"We were only striking for the right to work.

"... growing numbers who support this campaign for truth and justice, show it is in the public interest to hold an Orgreave inquiry to have a full and authoritative review of what happened and why we were treated so badly".

A twisted sign, felled concrete posts and a broken wall tell the story of violence outside a coking plant in Orgreave Credit: PA Images

The campaign's secretary, Kate Flannery, said:

"Our powerful and detailed evidence seems to have been  ignored by the Home Office and after giving the OTJC false hope - any kind of Orgreave inquiry was categorically ruled out.

"No-one in Government or the police has ever been held to account for what the government directed and the police did."

A Home Office spokesperson said:

“The Government has no plans to undertake an inquiry into the policing of the miners’ strike in 1984-85 in England and Wales.

“The policing landscape has changed fundamentally over the past three decades.”