Boat race swim protester in court

The swimmer arrested after bringing the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race to a dramatic halt is due to appear in court.

The annual contest on the River Thames was interrupted after the wet suit-clad swimmer was spotted in the vessels' path and the competition had to be restarted almost half an hour later.

Trenton Oldfield defended his anti-elitist stance and claimed he has always "fought from within".

The 35-year-old, who lives in a run-down block of flats in Myrdle Street, east London, is due at Feltham Magistrates' Court charged with a public order offence.

Oldfield posted a series of messages on Twitter the day after the race earlier this month, saying: "With the severe deficit in democracy new sites of protest unfortunately have had to be found" and "if its jail time, so be it".

He added: "Still waiting for someone to show me when elitism (seeing oneself above another) hasn't lead to oppression and tyranny?"

The drama of the race continued after his arrest when the blade of an Oxford oar broke and the crew's bowman Alex Woods collapsed at the end and required hospital treatment.