3 May 2012 Last updated at 07:00 ET

Protesters disrupt maintenance work on Leek Roundabout

Protesters surrounded the roundabout for more than five hours

Protesters have attempted to disrupt maintenance work at a roundabout in Staffordshire.

The island in the centre of Leek is due to be turned into a junction with traffic lights as part of a £5m council plan to improve traffic flow.

Campaigners are worried that traffic lights would obscure the Nicholson War Memorial, dedicated to 420 local men who died in World War I.

Police said 100 people surrounded the roundabout on Wednesday.

The council said contractors had been at the scene to do some preparatory electrical work which had nothing to do with the redevelopment.

In 2011, more than 4,000 people signed a petition to save the roundabout.