HUNDREDS of people have gathered in Bournemouth's Lower Gardens on Saturday to protest against the prorogation of parliament.

A vocal gathering took over a section of the popular town centre site to voice their frustration at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's request to suspend parliament, which was approved by the Queen on Wednesday.

Bournemouth Echo:

Protesters brought placards and EU flags with them to the "Defend Democracy #StopTheCoup" which was organised by the Dorset for Europe group.

Several local politicians were in attendance, with some giving speeches to the crowd.

Bournemouth Echo:

This included Labour Party perspective parliamentary candidate for Bournemouth West David Stokes.

He told the Daily Echo: "I am really impressed. It is a good turnout and I think we have to take our hats off to the organisers, who put this together at very short notice.

"The important thing about today is to emphasise this is about defending democracy. It is not about whether you are in favour of leaving the European Union or in favour of remaining in the European Union. It is all about what is happening with democracy because we live in a parliamentary democracy and if parliament is not sitting, they can't be discussing the important matters.

Bournemouth Echo:

"We are trying to emphasise it is not just Europe at the moment, there is also subjects like education and health. There are a lot of issues that need discussing and we can't discuss them if we don't have a parliament sitting."

Bournemouth Echo:

The move by Mr Johnson means parliament will not sit from some time between September 9 and 12 until October 14, when a Queen's Speech will take place and a new parliamentary session will begin.

Protests have been taking place all over the country today, with hundreds of thousands expected to take part.