Eubank Arrested After Iraq Protest at No 10

Chris Eubank was arrested yesterday after driving his huge American truck to Downing Street in a one-man protest against the military occupation of Iraq.

The flamboyant former world middleweight boxing champion was first given a ticket for careless driving after blocking the gates near No 10 with his 10-wheel truck. Later he was arrested for reversing the truck into a delivery van and for possessing a bladed instrument.

After arriving for the first time near No 10 at around 4.30pm he sounded the truck's horns for a minute and told police: "You must arrest me".

But Eubank's wish was granted only after he returned to Downing Street following a 30-minute drive around Parliament Square.

This time, horns blazing again, witnesses said he reversed his truck into a delivery van. Eubank was then ordered out of the cab and detained. Holding his fists in the air, he was put into a police van.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said a man in his 30s had been bailed on suspicion of causing criminal damage to a vehicle.

Before his arrest, Eubank said: "The military occupation [of Iraq] doesn't work. All it does is cause more terror. If I come into your house with a gun, people will react against me. It's called terrorism."

He was believed to have driven the truck from his home in Brighton.

The driver of the vehicle that Eubank reversed into, denting the bumper and smashing a headlight, said: "He reversed into me without looking."

Later a spokesman for Eubank said: "Chris felt he had to make a statement. His feelings [about Iraq] were so strong he was prepared to be arrested."