THE cases against protestors who invaded a County Durham opencast coalmine have been dropped amid complaints that there have been breaches of the conditions imposed on operators.

Protestors stormed Field House mine, near West Rainton, Durham, in August this year to stop work at the site by occupying machinery.

This week, a 34-year-old woman from Kingston upon Thames appeared at Peterlee Magistrates' Court accused of assaulting a security guard.

The case was dismissed after no evidence was offered.

Cases against six others, for offences including criminal damage, common assault and failing to comply with an exclusion order, were discontinued last month.

It follows the day of action on August 19, when about 50 members of Earth First! shut down work on the site, which is operated by Hargreaves Surface Mining.

The campaigners say they took action to support the neighbouring community and in protest to the “environmental destruction of the coal industry."

Protestors have accused Hargreaves, which started work at Field House in 2018, of failing to abide by the conditions of their planning permission, in relation to issues with dust, the size of coal stockpiles and coal crushing.

Hargreaves responded by saying the company was mining the site in line with its planning permission.

Durham County Council, which is responsible for monitoring the site, said there was an ongoing investigation.

Planning development manager Stephen Reed said: "We are aware of the breaches of planning control referred to and can confirm these are the subject of an ongoing planning enforcement investigation.

“National planning policy is clear that it is up to councils how they handle enforcement matters and that they should act proportionately in responding to suspected breaches of planning control.

"In this case, we have sought to resolve these matters without the need for formal enforcement action, with the co-operation of the site operator.

“We will continue to routinely monitor the site and will take action should the issues not be satisfactorily resolved.”

Campaigner Sam Jenkins, who was part of the action, said, “It is vital that we stand in solidarity with communities locally and globally that have their homelands colonised by opencast coal mines.

"Being in the Field House opencast it was clear that dust suppression was not a primary concern to Hargreaves.

"It’s safe to say with any area of land, you can never know how much wildlife is there and what will be affected by destroying any part of that ecosystem.

"Whole ecosystems are being completely torn apart by opencast extraction, an argument that gets little attention, but this is an act of ignorance as we rely on these wildlife systems to have any sort of symbiotic future.”