Campaigners dragged from Mayor Sadiq Khan's meeting after calling for vote on tower blocks

Sarah Sachs-Eldridge, 40, of Leytonstone was dragged out of the meeting on Thursday by two security guards after she and fellow members of Save Our Square E17 began chanting “Walthamstow wants a vote.”

The group has spent the past nine months fighting controversial plans to redevelop Walthamstow Town Square which include four high-rise tower blocks, built partly on public land.

On Tuesday the Mayor gave the green light to the scheme which was approved by Waltham Forest Council planning committee in December and now campaigners are calling for a public vote.

Above, Ms Sachs-Eldridge is lifted out by security guards.

Protesters held up signs that read ‘70% unaffordable Walthamstow Mall’, a reference to 30 per cent of the 500 apartments in the blocks classed as affordable.

READ MORE: 'Sadiq Khan has betrayed us,' say campaigners as Mayor approves controversial plans for Walthamstow town square

Ms Sachs-Eldridge said: “I was in total shock because I’ve been campaigning for a long time and you often don’t get your point across but to be physically removed is astounding.

“I’m ok but it was painful and it was humiliating really to be lifted up like a child and be carried out.

“I felt, how dare you, I’ve got a point to make here and you’re using physical force to gag me.

“We were there to be a voice for the young people in Waltham Forest who need a home and we were being silenced.”

More than 3,000 people signed a petition opposing Capital & Regional’s development and last month hundreds of protesters attended an ‘Occupy the Square’ event in Walthamstow.

In footage posted online of Thursday’s protest at City Hall, one member of the group can be seen addressing the audience saying: “He (Sadiq Khan) is building a monstrous development in Walthamstow town centre and he won’t give people in Walthamstow a voice.”

Security guards can be seen pulling and pushing members of the group, one of whom is an elderly lady, and ripping signs from their hands.

Ms Sachs-Eldridge who plans to stand as a candidate for the Trade Unionists and Socialist Coalition in the upcoming local elections in Waltham Forest, believes such a “heavy-handed” response was not needed.

She added: “This housing crisis is destroying families and denying young people a future. What we suffered is nothing compared to families being evicted by landlords.

“You can’t silence an idea. We have to fight for our children’s futures. We are not going away – we’re in it to win it.”

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “Thursday's event was disrupted by a small number of protestors, forcing the meeting to be suspended for a few minutes. Security officers removed protestors from City Hall so that the session could continue.

"After listening to the local community and increasing the number of genuinely affordable homes from 20 to 30 per cent, the Mayor recently approved the Walthamstow Mall development. This also includes an extra £7.3 million from the development for more council housing."

Above, an artist's impression of the development.

A spokesman for Capital & Regional said the £200m development would “breathe new life into the town” and “enhance” the public space and include a new children’s play area.

It is expected to create 350 permanent jobs in retail and bring up to £25 million each year in additional spend in Walthamstow.

A spokesman for Waltham Forest Council said it would not be undertaking a public vote for the redevelopment as a public consultation was conducted prior to December’s planning meeting.

He added: “At that meeting, members of the public contributed and the planning committee passed a resolution to grant planning permission after consideration of all matters.”