Police are investigating after an officer was filmed on Remembrance Sunday (November 8) pushing to the ground a man who was said to be a veteran trying to reach The Cenotaph.

Footage filmed close to the war memorial on Whitehall shows a crowd of anti-lockdown protesters being prevented from approaching the traditional focal point of Remembrance Sunday by a line of police.

A bagpiper - said to be a veteran - files past the protesters a few times and then marches straight into the line of police, an officer pushes him hard and he falls to the ground.

The protesters then angrily reprimand the officer and scuffles break out.

Other footage posted online shows the same bagpiper saying: "I actually did it. I provoked them. I did it, I did actually do it. In my training, if you want to get what you want, and if you want things to happen, sometimes you have to sometimes create to get what you want."

Remembrance Sunday was scaled back this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and in accordance with current restrictions.

The video subsequently circulated online prompting the Metropolitan Police to issue a statement that read: "Police are aware of a video circulating online which shows an officer using force after a man had tried to enter a restricted area in Whitehall SW1.

"The actions of the officer will be looked at in the wider context of this incident.

"The man had previously been asked to wait while the restricted area was opened up and he would be able to attend the Cenotaph.

"The road was closed off as the Remembrance Sunday event this year was a closed ceremony due to Covid restrictions.

"The area was later opened up to members of the public.

"A man, aged 47, was arrested on suspicion of common assault on an emergency worker. He was taken into police custody and subsequently released under investigation."

During Remembrance Sunday a veteran was pushed to the ground by the police while playing bagpipes