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38 arrests at power station protest

31/08/2006

Police have made 38 arrests after hundreds of environmental protestors attended a demonstration aimed at closing down Britain's largest coal-fired power station.

Camp for Climate Action campaigners said they were planning a day of "creative mass action" to shut down Drax power station, near Selby, North Yorkshire.

Although predominately peaceful, the protest has led to a number of arrests, North Yorkshire police said this afternoon.

Of those detained, two already had warrants out for their arrest; five were arrested for aggravated trespass; and eight for criminal damage.

Earlier, police revealed that two people were being held on suspicion of carrying offensive weapons.

"Today has been a success," Chief Inspector Barry Smith said.

"We have made 38 arrests but people have been able to protest peacefully."

Ch Insp Smith added that some of the protestors had brought a large ostrich-like object into the area which contained "a number of lock-on devices" which could have been used to tie people to fences.

"There has been no disruption whatsoever to the functioning of the power station," Ch Insp Smith added.

The green activists claim the plant produces four per cent of the country's carbon dioxide emissions, making it the UK's biggest producer of carbon dioxide.

Earlier, the force's deputy chief constable, Ian McPherson, stressed that police have resources in place to deal with any troublesome demonstrators "swiftly and firmly".

Extra officers have been drafted in from six other forces across the country to help North Yorkshire police supervise the protest.

Mr McPherson said that he expected the majority of demonstrators to behave and that police were not seeking "confrontation" with the activists.

Earlier this month, Drax Power successfully applied for an injunction banning unauthorised people from entering the site or using an adjacent footpath.

The company said it had taken the step to prevent protestors being harmed by the complex industrial processes at the plant.

"We consider these dangers to be significant, particularly to unaccompanied and untrained individuals," it said.

Drax Power said it had also sought the indefinite injunction as the North Yorkshire power station was an "important national strategic asset" which provided seven per cent of the UK's electricity.

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