A PROTEST group campaigning to get Guernsey’s biggest industry closed down received more than £35,000 of taxpayers’ money to help fund three of its projects, it has emerged.

War on Want, which was in Jersey yesterday to protest against ‘tax havens’, has made numerous applications to the Overseas Aid Commission since the late 1990s in a bid for funding for a variety of projects.

It was successful in 2000, 2005 and 2007 for work it was doing in India and Brazil.

But an application for funding earlier this year was turned down and commission chairman Carol Steere (pictured) admitted that discussions would take place about the group’s current protest against ‘tax dodging in places like Jersey and Guernsey’ if it applied for future funding.

‘At the moment I am not aware of any application outstanding from War on Want but I’m sure that if they did apply again, then the commission would discuss whether, given their recent publicity, it would be appropriate to continue to help fund them,’ she said.

Campaigners, including representatives of Christian Aid, walked from the St Helier waterfront to hold a demonstration against Jersey’s finance industry in the Royal Square yesterday.

Banks warned staff to use public entrances in case they were targeted as the protesters rallied against 10 UK and European banks.