Hundreds block Sheffield city centre roads in Kill the Bill protest

Hundreds of people have blocked major Sheffield city centre roads as part of a protest against police powers.

Protesters gathered in Devonshire Green at 1pm today for the city’s Kill the Bill event before marching through The Moor and stopping for a sit-in protest outside Sheffield Town Hall.

First blocking Pinstone Street, the crowd has heard speeches and chanted “Kill The Bill” and “This is what democracy looks like”.

The crowd then moved to Snig Hill, with protesters once more sitting down to block the road, with a vigil for George Floyd held.

To get the latest email updates from South Yorkshire Live, click here .

Today’s event is one of over 30 protests planned for today, April 3, with a similar event held in Leeds on Good Friday and another in Sheffield last week.

Follow live updates from the protest here

Protesters are fighting the Police, Sentencing and Courts Bill, with critics claiming it gives police undue powers in cracking down on peaceful protests, with forces allowed to dictate start and finish times and even noise levels of those involved.

Events are also being held in Birmingham, Newcastle, Nottingham, Lincoln, York and many other cities across the UK.

Today’s demonstration in Sheffield saw a huge crowd take the knee on Devonshire Green this afternoon before the protest mobilised and headed for the town hall.

Moving pictures showed all those at the Kill The Bill protest taking the knee in solidarity for the cause.

Police have been seen watching the protest from a distance and so far the event has been peaceful.