Renewed demands are being made for a government inquiry into the case of 1970s “flying pickets” which saw actor Ricky Tomlinson jailed.

Union leaders, MPs and a campaign group are calling for a fresh investigation into 24 workers who were tried in Shrewsbury.

They were accused of violent crimes during the national strike of builders in 1972 and the trial resulted in six of the pickets being jailed.

The “Shrewsbury Two” – actor Tomlinson and Des Warren both received two years, another man received a lesser term and 21 others received suspended sentences.

On March 12 there will be a lobby of Parliament to call for an inquiry to clear their names and investigate how the government handled the situation.

It will be followed by a public meeting at 4pm at a committee room in the House of Commons chaired by Jeremy Corbyn MP. Speakers will include Tomlinson, Alan Ritchie, of UCATT, and John Hendy QC.

Mr Tomlinson who has also appeared in films such as Mike Bassett England Manager and The 51st State, has camapigned about the way he was treated and claims he and Warren were political prisoners.

Efforts to overturn the verdicts and hold a public inquiry into the role of the government and employers have been ongoing.

A spokesman for the UCATT construction workers’ union today said: “Back in 2007 we got unanimous support at a trades union congress for an inquiry and we have been pursuing that.

“We took it to a Labour Party conference and put pressure on them about getting justice for pickets and we’re also funding the case of one of the 24, Terry Renshaw, through the Criminal Cases Review Commission.”

Three years ago former defence minister Peter Kilfoyle claimed Ricky Tomlinson was the victim of an MI5 dirty tricks campaign.

Files released in 2007 showed the then head of MI5, Sir Michael Hanley intervened to block Mr Tomlinson’s release, claiming he was involved in a communist plot to destabilise Britain.

By Russell Roberts