A LEADING UK civil rights group is looking into the actions of the local police force following their raid on the Warehouse nightclub in Lancaster.

London-based human rights organisation, Liberty, have said initial reports of the high profile raid suggest the police actions on the night could be deemed "unlawful."

The police have faced considerable criticism for they way they executed the raid, which involved up to 80 officers in riot gear and the closure of North Road.

Critics claim it was "heavy handed" and that a lot of innocent bystanders were left shocked and traumatised.

A spokesman for Liberty, an independent group which takes on legal test cases, said they were happy to offer free preliminary legal advice to the bystanders caught up in Operation Bubblewrap.

The group believe the police actions on the night, especially the way clubbers were rounded up and detained on the dancefloor, could raise serious human rights issues. A spokesman for Liberty explained: "Rounding people up and herding them into the centre of a club may amount to unlawful arrest. A total restraint of liberty of the person, for however short a time, by the use or threat of force or by confinement, is an imprisonment. To compel a person to remain in a given place is an imprisonment. It is not necessary to prove that the imprisonment was unlawful or malicious. The onus lies on the other person, here the police, to prove a justification."

They also claim that police video surveillance on the night could contravene Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Individuals caught up in the police raid who would like further advice should e-mail info@liberty-human-rights.org.uk