Anti-mining protesters invade coal site
??Police were called to UK Coal's mine in Telford today after protesters ran onto the site and chained themselves to diggers. ??Police were called to UK Coal's mine in Telford today after protesters ran onto the site and chained themselves to diggers. There were dramatic scenes when two of the campaigners ran onto the New Works mining site at about 7am and used bicycle locks to attach themselves by their necks to the machines. Two of the protesters were arrested while others were escorted off the site by police and security guards. The campaigners, who have been living in a makeshift camp at the site since March last year, are fighting plans by UK Coal to mine 900,000 tonnes of coal.
??Police were called to UK Coal's mine in Telford today after protesters ran onto the site and chained themselves to diggers.
There were dramatic scenes when two of the campaigners ran onto the New Works mining site at about 7am and used bicycle locks to attach themselves by their necks to the machines.
Two of the protesters were arrested while others were escorted off the site by police and security guards.
The campaigners, who have been living in a makeshift camp at the site since March last year, are fighting plans by UK Coal to mine 900,000 tonnes of coal.
One of the campaigners, Suzie Murphy, said six protesters ran onto the site to distract the security guards while the two men secured themselves to the machinery.
Chris Ammonds, spokesman for Telford police, said a 19-year-old man was arrested this morning on suspicion of aggravated trespassing and a second man was arrested this afternoon.
Gordon Grant, spokesman for UK Coal, said the protesters had been given warning to leave the site and would now face legal action.
Last week, the company placed a notice at the campsite warning the campaigners that they must leave the site by noon today or face court action.
He said: "We have served notice for seven days which expired today. Our next step is to seek an order from the court to allow us to continue our local business, as we have been given the right to do."
Miss Murphy said: "We are going no where and we will continue to fight this."
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