Work at a coal loading rail depot in South Lanarkshire is being disrupted by environmental campaigners. Protesters have attached themselves to the conveyor belt and the front gate at the Ravenstruther terminal near Lanark.

The facility which is owned by Scottish Coal was targeted as part of an ongoing campaign against open cast mining in the Douglas valley area.

Police said that about a dozen people were involved in the protest, which got under way at about 0600 GMT. It stated that at 6.00 AM on November 10th supported by approximately 15 other campaigners, two protesters attached themselves to the front gate of the coal terminal effectively preventing access to the site.

At the same time, two other anti coal activists scaled infrastructure and attached themselves to the coal conveyor belt. They are currently preventing coal being loaded and transported at the terminal and plan to stay in place until removed.

A spokesman for Scottish Coal confirmed that the Ravenstruther rail loading terminal had been illegally occupied by protesters. He said that the police are dealing with their safe removal. The action will not impact coal supplies to our electricity generation customers although it will result in deliveries being transferred from rail to road until the site is cleared.

(Sourced from www.bbc.co.uk)