An animal rights activist who barricaded herself into a hotel room has gone on trial for drinking a bottle of beer during her sit-in protest.

Lynn Sawyer, 36, tricked her way into the room at the Hilton Brighton Metropole Hotel in Brighton, which had been rented for the event by Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS).

She appeared at Lewes Crown Court yesterday, charged with the theft of a bottle of Budweiser she drank during her demonstration against vivisection laboratory HLS.

Francesca Wilby, prosecuting, told the jury Sawyer convinced hotel employee Anne Lozach she was a delegate and persuaded her to unlock the room. Once inside, Sawyer piled tables against the door.

Security guards forced their way into the hospitality suite to find Sawyer on the floor with a bottle of Budweiser.

Miss Wilby said: "Sawyer barricaded herself in with tables. When the police got in Sawyer was sitting in the corner of the room and was drinking from a bottle of Budweiser.

"By telling Miss Lozach or inferring to her she was a delegate, she enabled herself to enter and avail herself of the services in it."

Sawyer, a midwife from Boatt Lane in Evesham, Worcestershire, faces two charges of theft and obtaining property by deception.

She was one of about 1,000 demonstrators who gathered at the hotel on November 18, 2002, while the hotel was hosting the British Crop Protection Council (BCPC) conference.

The four-day gathering featured about 40 companies with stalls open to the public.

Some, such as HLS, also hired rooms as hospitality suites with food and drink for clients or guests.

Miss Wilby told the jury: "The case has nothing to do with Ms Sawyer's political views. It is solely the theft of a bottle of beer and using the services of Huntingdon Life Sciences."

Ms Lozach, conference and banqueting supervisor at the Metropole, said Sawyer had been wearing a badge which she believed identified her as part of the HLS group.

She added: "I remember opening the door and just walking round the room to see if everything was all right. I gave her a copy of the key and left the room."

Jeremy Chipperfield, defending, said Sawyer had only been wearing a normal white visitor badge, not a red delegate's pass.

He asked Miss Lozach: "Do you accept you made a mistake in looking at her card and thinking it was something different?"

Miss Lozach replied: "Yes I do. It was probably because I was really busy."

Sawyer denies the charges. The trial was due to continue today.