Anti-poverty activists who spent 11 hours chained to the jib of a 150ft crane have been arrested.

Leila Deen, Kath Pasteur and Paul Hutchings, all from Brighton, climbed the crane in Edinburgh at 7am on Tuesday and stayed up it until 6.15pm.

The trio, from the Brighton branch of the World Development Movement, were calling for an end to poverty in the developing world and displayed a banner reading: "No more Brownwash."

Speaking yesterday before he was arrested, Mr Hutchings, 37, of Norman Street, said: "It has been a long day and we have made our point."

He said he and the other demonstrators were prepared to be arrested to stand up for their beliefs.

Ms Deen, 25, of Lower Rock Gardens, said: "We were angered by the way the Government is co-opting the Make Poverty History campaign and is perceived as being part of it. We want people to know it is not."

Speaking from the crane, Ms Pasteur, 34, of Steine Street, said: "The protest has been fairly peaceful. We have been waving to the police officers."