Three people were arrested in Cambridge City Centre on Saturday after protestors occupied and forced the closure of the Vodafone outlet in the Grand Arcade.

Approximately 35 activists converged on the shop in a demonstration organised by the Cambridge Action Network (CAN) as part of a nationwide protest against Vodafone’s alleged £6 billion tax exemption.

The protesters were inspired by the actions of UK Uncut, a group urging direct action over budget cuts.

In a statement to the press, CAN stressed that the aim of the protest was to “highlight the hypocrisy of the coalition government, which is cutting corporate tax at the same time as announcing huge spending cuts across the public sector”.

Bea Patrick, a member of the Cambridge Action Network and a second-year student at Newnham, told Varsity, “We walked into the Vodafone store in the Arcade and started handing out leaflets and chanting, informing customers of the tax-dodge."

"When asked to leave by the store employees, we peacefully sat down and continued chanting.”

The demonstration targeted the Vodafone store, which was situated inside the privately-owned Grand Arcade. Consequently, despite the peaceful nature of the demonstration, security guards soon notified the police, who told protestors to leave or face arrest for trespassing.

“They were aggressive and forceful,” continued Patrick. “They grabbed placards out of our hands and dragged us out of the store into the main arcade.”

Three protestors were arrested in front of the large crowd that had gathered outside of the shop. They were then taken to a local police station where they were released on bail without charge.

A third-year Philosophy student at King’s, who wished to remain anonymous, told Varsity, “We were demonstrating to say that the government should be coming down hard on corporations like Vodafone as opposed to making cuts that hit the poor and the vulnerable.”

He added, “The people we spoke to were highly supportive, expressing their anger at the government's prioritising of corporate interests over public interests.”

The protest was part of a national campaign that has seen Vodafone stores across the country, including the Oxford Street branch in central London, forced to close temporarily.

The campaign has grown predominantly through social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook in the past ten days.

Both HM Revenue and Customs and Vodafone have denied allegations that the telecommunications company was let off a £6 billion tax bill.

In a comment to The Guardian, Vodafone described the claims as “complete and utter fallacy.”

When contacted by Varsity, the Cambridge branch of Vodafone refused to comment.