Singer Will Young chains himself to gates of beagle breeding facility

Singer Will Young chained himself to the gates of a beagle breeding facility in Huntingdon after joining a protest against medical experimentation on animals.

The pop star, 42, padlocked himself to steel gates outside the MBR Acres research site in Cambridgeshire at lunchtime on Tuesday.

He also held a poster aloft reading: 'Cambridgeshire. Famous for beagle torture. Thanks to MBR.'

The biomedical facility, named 'Camp Beagle' by animal rights campaigners, has been at the focal point of protests since the summer.

MBR Acres is owned by Marshall BioResources, a global provider of purpose-bred animals for biomedical research and related services.

A permanent camp was set up outside its gates in July, with campaigners claiming that 2,000 beagles are being reared at the site before being transported to laboratories for medical research at 16 weeks.

Activists say the dogs are destined for a 'cruel, painful and short life' of toxicology testing and vivisection. 

Ardent dog lover Mr Young rescued two dogs, both of whom had been facing euthanasia, from the US last year. 

Actors Ricky Gervais and Peter Egan have also previously backed calls to shut down the site.