AN EDINBURGH University security guard has been arrested and charged after allegedly choking a student protestor. A video was released on Twitter showing the security guard grabbing the student protestor before falling on top of him and holding his throat. The guard then appears to be taken away by one of his colleagues.

Last night Edinburgh University said that they “regretted” the incident.

The student was one of a group of protestors holed up in Charles Stewart House in Chambers Street. The People & Planet group has been occupying the building after Edinburgh University’s management last week rejected calls to end their investment into fossil fuels.

Last night Police Scotland said two men have been arrested. Although the police were unable to give out more details, it is understood that both the protestor and the security guard have been arrested. Later, protestors claimed that the student had not been charged.

A police spokesman said: “Police in Edinburgh have arrested and charged two men in connection with a disturbance in Chambers Street, Edinburgh today.

“The incident happened outside a University of Edinburgh building where a student occupation is underway. A report will be sent to the procurator fiscal.”

A University of Edinburgh spokesman said: “The university is aware of, and deeply regrets, the unfortunate incident that is currently being played on social media. The matter is now in the hands of the police.

“We continue to support the right of students to peacefully and lawfully demonstrate, and the university is using private security outside its buildings in Chambers Street in order to secure the safety of staff and students during the occupation.

“We are constantly reviewing our security arrangements to make sure that they are appropriate to the circumstances in what is an evolving situation.”

However, Kirsty Haigh, the National Union of Students (NUS) vice president of communities, did not believe in the sincerity of the apology: “The university haven’t spoken to us or replied to us at all. We only found out about their apparent apology when we saw it on the news.”

“Intimidation by the university and its security would not work,” said Haigh. “We are not going anywhere. If anything this had made students even angrier and more likely to come and get involved in the campaign.

“For the university to think it is more appropriate for students to have students assaulted by security than it is to divest from fossil fuels is ridiculous.”

The area’s MP Tommy Sheppard was concerned about how the students were being treated and would be taking it up with university principal,

Sir Timothy O’Shea.

Sheppard told The National: “I’ve been contacted by a number of constituents about what’s happening and I will be writing to Sir Tim to ask for an explanation of what’s happened and to express concern”.

Eric Lai, one of the occupiers inside the building, 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 need to immediately change their approach, allowing open access to the building and engaging with the politics of why we’re here, rather than just covering their ears to both the demands of students and staff, and the desperate urgency of tackling climate change. Until they move their money out of fossil fuels, we’re going nowhere.”