Eco-protest hits Gatwick

Eco-activists breached security at Gatwick airport today in a protest against short-haul flights.

In a separate action, another group blocked deliveries from a biofuel depot.

The campaign of disruption coincides with a protest camp near Kingsnorth power station in Kent, which will culminate in a day of action on Saturday.

At Gatwick, two campaigners clambered on to the roof rafters in the arrivals lounge, unfurling a banner urging travellers to use trains rather than planes. Two more activists handcuffed themselves to railings on a mezzanine floor.

Three more handed out leaflets attacking Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly.

The stunt was organised by Plane Stupid, the anti-aviation group which mounted a rooftop protest on the Palace of Westminster in February.

One of the group's leaders Tamsin Omond, on police bail for the Parliament protest, said she and fellow activists infiltrated the airport at 7.50am. She named the activists in the roof as Elizabeth Baines, 23, a student at University College London, and a 38-year-old man known only as Mike.

The two chained to the railings were identified as Lotti Rutter, 20, who works for an environmental charity, and a man called Jake, 27. The group pointed to the large number of daily flights from London to Edinburgh compared with just 22 trains on the same journey.

Ms Rutter said: "A lot of people will be going to the Edinburgh Festival and we're here to ask them to make the right decision - to take the train."

At the Vopak depot in Thurrock, Essex, which supplies Tesco and Morrisons, three men and a woman climbed onto a container and unfurled a banner protesting-against the use of biofuels, which campaigners claim have caused rainforest destruction and even starvation. Eight other protesters chained themselves together at the depot's entrance and staged a sit-down protest. Eight people are thought to have been arrested.