Suzie Melvin told a committee of MPs that despite having the force's logo on her hi-vis vest, she was still taken into custody and detained for hours.
A senior police source told the i newspaper there had been"firm instruction" from the Home Office to crackdown on protests - amid speculation about political pressure on officers.
The committee itself also faced interruption by protesters from Just Stop Oil on Wednesday - leading to groans from one MP.Moment protest interrupted committeeMs Melvin was asked to describe her experience to the committee by its chair, Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson. The volunteer said it was"quite quiet compared to a normal Friday night so we were mainly giving people directions from outside of London on where to watch the coronation", as well as speaking to police officers on the beat"as we always do".
"As we were entering the north side of Soho Square, we were approached by a number of [police] vans and then a large number of officers got out of the vans, approached us and said they were going to stop and search us."The police went through their bags and their pockets and kept the three volunteers separated, but appeared to ignore their pleas, she said.
But an officer told her they were specifically looking for volunteers from the organisation - and rape alarms.
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