Protesters dig in over mining plans

Campaigners have set up camp at a mining site in Telford in protest at plans to mine 900,000 tonnes of coal.

Half a dozen protesters are now living on the site between New Works and Little Wenlock in objection to UK Coal's scheme. Their numbers were swelled over the weekend with about a couple of dozen people joining in the protest. UK Coal bosses today said the protests were illegal and they would be taking legal action to remove those involved.

One man living on the campsite, which has a makeshift fire and tents, blamed the Government for allowing the mining to take place.

Campaigners have been fighting the firm's bid for an opencast mine, arguing it would wreck the countryside.

UK Coal appealed after Telford & Wrekin Council failed to come to a decision over the application for the Huntington Lane site. But a public inquiry was held last year and planning inspector Andrew Mead recommended the appeal be allowed, which paved the way for Secretary of State John Denham to grant permission.

One of the protesters, who did not want to be named, said: "We object because it's so close to The Wrekin and people's homes."

Another protester, who also did not want to be named, said: "They already started to cut down trees which they said were around 20 years old, but they're not, they're about 150 years old."

Stuart Oliver, for UK Coal, said of the camp: "These protest groups are illegal . . . they can't stop the scheme from going ahead. We will take whatever legal action we need to remove them."

By Jason Lavan