UK and Dutch members of Fathers 4 Justice overpowered police and stormed a conference on family law last Friday, forcing the evacuation of the building.

The fathers’ rights group was hoping to get the chance to remonstrate with the UK children and families minister, Lord Filkin, outside the conference venue, which is next to the Regent’s canal in north London.

The group’s spokesman, Matt O’Connor, told SocietyGuardian.co.uk that the minister could have found himself “in at the deep end”.

Acting on a tip-off, the police stationed three divers and a dinghy in the canal as a precaution, and more than 30 policemen were brought in to guard the conference centre.