Gran tells of protest arrest

Thursday 6th September 2007, 10:12AM BST.

A 77-year-old anti-nuclear campaigner from a village near Whitchurch who was arrested after breaching security at a nuclear weapons base today said it had been “relatively easy”.

Grandmother Joan Meredith, from Malpas, was arrested with fellow pensioner Irene Willis, 62, from Essex, after the pair walked into Royal Naval Armament Depot Coulport on the Clyde just after midnight yesterday.

The base, which stores Trident nuclear weapons, is part of the Clyde Naval Base complex, which includes the submarine base of Faslane, home of regular peace protests.

“I thought it was really serious that the two of us could get into that base,” said Mrs Meredith. “If we can get in, anyone can.”

A spokesman for MoD police said there was no evidence the women had breached Coulport’s main security perimeter.

He said: “They have been released pending a report being sent to the procurator fiscal.”

View more: North Shropshire news.