Green protesters hijack train carrying 1,000 tonnes of coal

Riot police last night boarded a coal train which had been stopped by climate protesters as it headed for one of Europe's biggest power stations. Dozens of officers surrounded the locomotive which was halted a few miles south of Drax power station, North Yorkshire.

One of the demonstrators inside the train said that they had chained themselves to fittings and would need to be cut free if police wanted to remove them.

Speaking from the 21-wagon train, which is carrying 1,000 tonnes of coal, one of the protesters, called Natalie, said: "The police have moved into the hoppers. They've started taking stuff. There must be about 10 of them on the train but loads more around it."

One of the activists, Ben Tennyson, said: "We've stopped this train to prevent it delivering 1,000 tonnes of coal to be burnt at Drax and then released into the atmosphere." Some of the protesters could be seen moving on to the top of the steel arch of the bridge over the river Aire where the train is parked, a few miles from the village of Carlton.