Wrekin mine protesters put on campsite fun day

A fun day with a difference was on offer in the shadow of The Wrekin when protesters fighting plans to mine coal at the beauty spot threw open their camp to the public.

Environmental campaigners at the site in Huntington Lane, Little Wenlock, laid on games for young visitors and led guided tours of their makeshift home. The open day on Saturday was staged to mark six months since protesters first set up camp.

The protesters are opposing plans to the opencast mining of 900,000 tonnes of coal on a 230-acre site in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

UK Coal hopes to start work in the autumn but the protesters have vowed to resist any attempts to evict them.

The campaigners have vowed to padlock themselves to trees in a bid to avoid eviction.

They have also said they will not budge from the "many" tunnels they have dug around the site.

Spokesman for UK Coal, Stuart Oliver, has said that if the protesters do not leave peacefully they will be forcibly evicted.

Dozens of the activists now live in the Huntington Lane camp.

The tent-dwellers opened up the campsite to visitors on Saturday to let them see round.

The day kicked off at the site at 9.30am and ran until the early evening.

One of the protesters, who did not want to be named, said: "We just wanted to mark the six months since we've been here and to do something for the community.

"We took visitors around the camp so they could see exactly what we were doing and answered any questions they had."

The protester added: "We wanted people to know why we are on the site and why we believe the mine plan would be so damaging for the area."

"It was all about having fun and we put on a vegan stew for anyone who wanted a bite to eat."

Signs were also put up around the area so that visitors could find their way to the site easily.

Mr Oliver has said UK Coal's operation at the site would mean the creation of 90 jobs on the site and an investment by the company of £500,000 into a community fund.

By Simon Hardy