Mr Chessum, a high-profile student activist, was arrested today following a demonstration yesterday against the closure plans, where there was a heavy police presence.

ULU said in a statement that the arrest was ¡°a clear attack on the right to protest¡±.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said a 24-year-old man had been arrested under Section 11 of the Public Order Act, which covers the requirement for ¡°advance notice of public processions¡±.

He is being held at a central London police station, the spokesman said tonight. Dozens of students and staff from the university have been gathering outside the station - believed to be Holborn - to demonstrate against his arrest.

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In May, the University of London¡¯s collegiate council decided that ULU ¨C Europe¡¯s largest student union ¨C should be wound up and its Bloomsbury headquarters put in the university¡¯s hands.

That decision has sparked fierce opposition from ULU, led by Mr Chessum.

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The Met¡¯s spokesman said that police officers at yesterday¡¯s demonstration at ULU had ¡°attempted to engage with event organisers, who had said there was no procession route planned¡±.

But there was then a ¡°procession down towards Senate House [the administrative centre of the University of London], where there was a clear intention by those present to breach security at Senate House and enter the premises and disrupt normal activity at the venue¡±, the spokesman said.

Officers ¡°acted to support the security of the venue¡± and protesters were ¡°not permitted to enter¡±, he added.

ULU¡¯s statement said Mr Chessum ¡°was intercepted by several police officers outside the ULU building on Malet Street in Bloomsbury, on his way back from a meeting with University of London management¡±.?

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It added: ¡°The arrest follows a similar incident in July, during which an activist was arrested for allegedly chalking slogans in support of a campaign for sick pay, holiday pay and pensions for University of London workers.¡±

ULU called the arrest ¡°a transparent and shameful attempt to intimidate students from demonstrating against the actions of university management¡±.?

john.morgan@tsleducation.com