A POLICE boss has hit out at Government plans to introduce new powers to crack down on protests, describing them as a “ full frontal assault on human rights”.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones is against creating new powers to control the length of demonstrations, impose maximum noise levels and prosecute protestors for causing “serious annoyance.”

The anti-protest measures are contained in the 300-page Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

Following two days of debates on the contentious proposals, MPs voted by 359 to 263 to pass the Bill at second reading in a move that was described as a “dark stain on our democracy.”

The draft section on “public order” states that conditions can be imposed on demonstrations if the noise generated “may result in serious disruption to the activities of an organisation” or may “have a relevant impact on persons in the vicinity of the protest.

The legislation creates a new public nuisance law that would make causing “serious annoyance or inconvenience” a crime punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

At the same time, it will aim to make it easier to convict protesters for ignoring conditions placed on a protest.

Mr Jones, a former police inspector, said: “This is a disgraceful full-frontal assault on human rights.

“These proposed draconian powers are a real threat to our inalienable right to protest.

“This is a fundamentally important issue because people have that right to protest peacefully and this is something that should be protected."