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POLICE and university authorities have been criticised for their attempts to remove student protesters during a 212-day sit-in at Glasgow University.

An independent inquiry carried out by former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy into the stand-off at the university’s Hetherington Building found police had “no legal authority” to forcibly remove protesters.

The university was also criticised over the events of 22 March, where attempts were made to end the protest, which eventually continued until the end of August. However, Mr Kennedy, the university’s rector, also expressed his disappointment at students who took part for failing to provide evidence as part of his inquiry, adding that their action had gone “beyond legitimate protest”.

Students occupied the former post-graduate club in February amid anger at its closure, but the action developed into one against a series of proposed cuts.

The main flashpoint came when police and university authorities attempted to remove students from the building. In his report published yesterday, Mr Kennedy said he was satisfied this had not been an attempt to “evict” protesters, but rather “to secure the premises and prevent further access”.

He said: “The inquiry is of the view that the decision taken was one which ought to have been recognised as likely to give rise to significant problems.”

He said university authorities had been “opportunistic” after discovering that a small number of students was occupying the building that day.

And he said police had confirmed officers who removed protesters should not have done so as they had “no legal authority for this action”.

However, he added: “It is clear that the police had not been informed in advance of the proposed attempt to end the occupation. The inquiry is satisfied that had the police been consulted, they would have advised against and recommended that the university obtain a court order requiring the occupiers to leave the building.”

Around 40 police officers, a dog-handling unit and helicopter were used in the operation, leading to complaints from protesters that the response had been “heavy handed”. The report concludes that while the university’s management of the occupation up to 21 March was “professional and considered,” the events of 22 March demonstrated a need to review and improve the handling of incidents of this kind.

Superintendent Nelson Telfer, of Strathclyde Police, said: “We accept that for a short period at the start of the incident, officers did assist in the eviction of some students. This is something that should not have happened.”

In a response to the inquiry’s report, the Free Hetherington group said: “We welcome the inquiry’s concession that the management of Glasgow University did not follow the proper channels, and had not exhausted all possibilities, when choosing to use physical force in removing students from the Hetherington Research Club.”