PROTESTORS invaded two County Durham opencast coalmines today remaining on the sites for several hours before leaving.

No arrests were made during the peaceful demonstrations. 

Dozens of activists entered the Bradley site, between Dipton and Leadgate, while simultaneously action was taken at the Field House opencast in West Rainton.

At the Bradley site, where Banks has permission to remove half a million tonnes of coal over three years, protestors dressed in red overalls lined the perimeter, marked by a mound of earth, blowing whistles and singing and chanting.

Protesters were held placards, proclaiming “Protect Pont Valley” and “Save the Druridge Bay”, referring to another proposed opencast mining site on the Northumberland coast, where Banks Mining is proposing to extract millions of tonnes of sandstone.

Another group of protesters at the side of the road chanted, “no thanks Banks, don’t mine Bradley”.

Many passing motorists honked their horns in support of the peaceful protest, which was being monitored by approximately a dozen police officers.

At Hargreaves two protestors locked themselves on to machinery.

June Davison, a Dipton resident who took part in the action today said: “Banks' Bradley site is on my doorstep and I empathise with other communities currently being affected by, or under threat from, opencast coal extraction.

“It's a noisy, dirty industry that destroys whole ecosystems that can never be replaced. You can't 'restore' 100-year-old hawthorn hedges, not in a lifetime.

“I know that there has also been opposition to another new opencast over in east of County Durham, near Pittington. I plan to do everything I can to make sure this and Bradley are the last ever opencast coal operations in this country.”

Activists said the action coincided with a global day of action against fossil fuels and climate change.

Sara James, a member of the Campaign to Protect Pont Valley, said: “Although work has started, we are rising because we will not accept being ignored by Banks Group and the Government.

“Since Banks started work at Pont Valley, from the Beast of the East to a global fatal heatwave, it is ever so clear that coal combustion has a direct contribution to catastrophic events around the world. We stand united and take action to demand an immediate end to coal extraction, and ecological destruction, in the UK and abroad.”

Durham Police, who maintained a visible presence at the Bradley site, kept A692 open throughout saying it would not close "unless it becomes absolutely necessary to protect public safety due to the protest activity." 

Mark Dowdall, environment and community director at The Banks Group, said: “Banks Mining is a North-East, family-owned firm that has been investing in the region for more than four decades, with hundreds of local and regional jobs being directly and indirectly created and sustained as a result, and we are continuing to progress work at our Bradley site in the safest, most efficient and most environmentally responsible way possible.”