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Climate Camp Update - Monday 17 August 2009

Monday 17 August 2009 : 15:16 hours

South Wales Police can now confirm that the Climate Camp protest in Merthyr Tydfil has been concluded and officers have been stood down and returned to normal duties.

Climate Camp protestors and environmentalists, set-up a campsite on Wednesday last week near the Ffos y Ffran open-cast mine in Merthyr Tydfil and, disbanded the campsite today (Monday 17 August).

Assistant Chief Constable Nick Croft of South Wales Police said,

“In total, approximately 200 protestors made up the campsite, which was a peaceful event where banners were displayed and workshops and group discussions took place in relation to being environmentally friendly.

“The first action of protest took place on Saturday (15 August) when approximately 100 protestors spontaneously left the campsite to undertake a peaceful protest to demonstrate at the Ffos Y Fran site.

“To facilitate the protest and to ensure the safety of the protesters, officers were deployed to escort the march up to the Kinseys farm area.

“A section 12 public order notice was served on the protestors preventing them proceeding further on the route for their own safety and the safety of others using the busy roadway.

“A small number of protestors, despite several police warnings, continued to move forward. One male person, despite the warnings, continued with his action and was bitten by a police dog to his left arm. This person was arrested for breaching the section 12 conditions.

“A large number of protestors conducted a sit-down protest and a minority of people persisted in their desire to continue the march, in contravention of the section 12 public order notice, and were prevented from doing so.

“A short time later, all of the protestors returned to the campsite; escorted by officers to ensure their safety.

“Following this incident, officers continued to facilitate a peaceful protest to ensure local residents and businesses could go about their day-to-day activity without disruption.

“We set out to police this event, in a manner which reflected the needs of the protestors to lawfully protest, set against the rights of the businesses and local community to go about their normal business. We are pleased that we achieved this aim and were able to avoid scenes in trend at other protests in the UK. 

“South Wales Police would like to thank the local residents and businesses for their patience and support over the last six days.”