Samaritans accused of stifling dissent and bullying over branch closure plans

Claim comes after charity suspends a number of senior volunteers who spoke out publicly against proposals

Samaritans has been accused of bullying behaviour and shutting down dissent after suspending a number of senior volunteers who spoke out publicly against its controversial plans to close as many as half of its 200 UK branches.

The mental health charity suspended at least two of its branch directors and one former branch director on Tuesday, 48 hours before its annual general meeting.