EDINBURGH University bosses were accused of unleashing violence against student environmental protesters yesterday after a security guard pushed a campaigner to the ground and grabbed their throat.

The incident, filmed and posted on YouTube, happened during an occupation by students from the People and Planet group who were protesting against the institution’s refusal to stop investing in fossil fuels.

Students picketed the occupied premises of Charles Stewart House on the Edinburgh’s Chambers Street yesterday.

Eric Lai, one of the occupiers, said: “We have been repeatedly told that the university supports our right to protest but that couldn’t feel further from the truth.

“The university has posted dozens of guards to the doors and have now taken to intimidation and violence to shut us up. It is hard to imagine a more inappropriate way to handle student protest.”

The university said it regretted the incident.