Government backs quarry protest

A planning enquiry was adjourned in September

Protestors hoping to halt work at a North Derbyshire quarry have welcomed financial help from the government.

They claim a quarry company, MMC Limited, is extracting far more limestone than allowed from Backdale Quarry on Longstone Edge.

The Peak District National Park Authority said the money would help them "take action" while they wait for a public enquiry to restart.

MMC Ltd has so far refused to comment on the decision.

'Exceptional' circumstances

John Lomas from the National Park Authority said: "There is a planning enquiry which will be held in April but all the while the company is carrying on operations.

"So rather than just wait for the enquiry, we have been looking at other ways of actually stopping the quarrying before the outcome of the enquiry is known."

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it had intervened in the dispute because of the "exceptional" nature of the countryside and other circumstances.

The park authority said it would decide on its next move at a meeting on 20 January.