A laboratory that breeds animals for scientific experiments has denied a claim that it is to close its beagle unit.

Bosses at Harlan UK in Belton, near Loughborough, said there was no truth in a claim by the National Anti-Vivisection Alliance (NAVA) that the beagle breeding unit was to shut by the end of the year.

An article on the NAVA website said: "A three-month campaign – Save the Harlan Beagles – run by NAVA has been successful in closing the Hillcrest beagle breeding unit at Belton.

"Harlan is to close the 250-beagle breeding unit by the end of the year."

A spokesman for Harlan UK said the claim was "a fabrication by NAVA".

The high-security Belton site is one of five Harlan UK sites around the country. All have been targeted by animal rights protestors.

The Belton site is monitored every year by RSPCA inspectors and the Universities Fund for Animal Welfare.