Coal Action Scotland temporarily halts work at Mainshill mine site

Protesters disrupted work at the Scottish Coal site at Mainshill

About 40 protesters stopped machines at the Scottish Coal site at Mainshill near the village of Douglas for about two-and-a-half hours on Saturday.

On Thursday, Coal Action Scotland set up camp near Douglas, saying it planned a week of "targeted direct action".

Scottish Coal has six mines in the area, with permission to extract millions in tonnes of coal.

The company confirmed that the activists left the Mainshill site at about 12:30.

One of the occupiers, Jo Reed, said: "I'm taking this action to stop the destruction to people's health and environment in this area.

"Nobody listened to the people of Douglas when they said they didn't want this mine, so the only responsible thing to do is to stop Scottish Coal from tearing up this land."

Coal Action Scotland has set up its camp near to the newest open cast mine, Glentaggart East.

South Lanarkshire Council said environmental groups had been consulted, and the planning application for the new site between Douglas and Glespin had been rigorously assessed.

Two previous camps, at Happendon Wood and Mainshill Wood, have ended in eviction after months of occupation.