Horrified punters watched on as the protest unfolded in Brighton on Friday night, with activists dressed in pig and chicken masks shouting into loudspeakers.

There was at least one arrest during the disturbment on London road, the group responsible claimed, which involved between 20 and 30 activists.

“It violence, it’s not food!” the group chanted. "The fake blood I spilt is nothing compared to the real blood McDonalds has spilled," added one angry vegan.

There was a scuffle at the door as the protestors attempted to get in, with a McDonald’s worker heard shouting: “Out! Out!”

Once inside, a vegan protestor ranted: “Has history taught us nothing?

"A cruel violent and greedy system must be challenged! Who are we to allow innocents to die?

“What going on?” a bemused cop is head asking in footage posted online, before politely checking if they were aware of their “rights as protestors?”

(Image: FACEBOOK )

(Image: FACEBOOK )

(Image: TWITTER/@BrightonDxe )

Another cop warned them they “were in breach of the peace,” adding: “You will remove yourself from the restaurant now or you will be arrested.”

However, a number of the group refused to cooperate or move and were handcuffed before being carried out-out of the restaurant in a horizontal position.

At least three police cars and one van were filmed outside the restaurant in Facebook live footage shared by the group.

“We had our first arrest tonight," the group behind the disturbance, Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) Brighton, revealed on Twitter.

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“We will do whatever it takes to STOP the needless, systematic abuse of animals,” they wrote.

Adding: “It is our moral obligation to stand up for what is right.”

(Image: SOUTH COAST NEWS )

(Image: FACEBOOK )

(Image: FACEBOOK )

(Image: FACEBOOK )

McDonald's workers at the scene were later seen attempting mop up and clean the fake blood smeared all over the floor and windows.

The group explained their aims on their Facebook page, writing: “Direct Action Everywhere is an international animal rights network dedicated to making animal liberation happen in our lifetime by using nonviolent direct action to put the issue of animal rights on the table.

“This is the Brighton chapter of DxE and here we aim to empower activists to take strong and confident action wherever animals are being enslaved, killed or exploited, and create a world where animal liberation is a reality.”

They add: “Nonviolent direct action aims to change the broad social norms that allow violence towards other animals, as it has with past social justice movements.”

Daily Star online has approached Sussex Police for comment.