Five held in coal depot protest

Five people were arrested over the protest at Ravenstruther

Five environmental campaigners have been arrested after a protest at a coal loading depot in South Lanarkshire.

About 10 people were involved in a blockade of the Ravenstruther terminal, near Lanark, from 0630 BST on Monday.

They are opposed to five open cast coal mines in the area and 13 new mines due to open in Scotland.

British Transport Police (BTP) said one man had been arrested at the scene for assault and three women and a man had been arrested for breach of the peace.

'Simply unacceptable'

A spokesman for BTP said: "BTP and local police attended the depot where there were 10 people including two who had climbed up a tall structure, and two others chained to the main gate.

"Officers arrested one man for assault and three women and a man for breach of the peace. All five have been taken into custody for questioning."

The protest ended when the arrests were made at about 1230 BST.

Bill Reid, who took part in the protest, said: "In the face of dangerous runaway climate change, increasing our dependence on coal - the most polluting of the fossil fuels - is simply unacceptable.

"We urgently need to switch to renewable energy and close existing mines. We shouldn't even be thinking about new ones."