A statue raised in tribute to a British industrialist was erroneously pulled down during a farmers’ protest outside the European Parliament.
The “mechanic” is part of the monument to John Cockerill, a Lancashire-born steel baron who helped transform Belgium into a 19th century industrial titan.
More than a thousand tractors descended on Brussels on Thursday morning as farmers converged from across Europe to protest against low pay and environmental regulations.
The figure was dragged off the plinth by a small group of militant farmers who believed they were dragging down a memorial to one of the European Union’s founding fathers.