COUNCILLORS in Whitehaven have criticised anti-mine protestors who have moved onto the former Marchon site.

The protest is being co-ordinated by the group Earth First! as part of its Summer Gathering event which runs from August 29 until September 4. 

Whitehaven councillors have voiced their views on the protests and have given their support for the plans for the mine to go ahead. 

Councillor Graham Roberts said: "They have every right to take part in peaceful protest and picketing, it's a democratic right as long as they don't cause any trouble or injure anybody. 

"But I think it's sad as it's putting the nail in the coffin of a great thing because this wasn't for domestic coal, it was for industry."

Cllr Roberts said that the mine will be more suited to the modern world and won't resemble the pits of years gone by.

He says that it would be 'sad' if the mine did not go ahead as it would 'provide jobs that the area desperately needs.'

The mayor of Whitehaven, Chris Hayes, said: "I'm very pro-mine. I think it will be great for Whitehaven, my area as a councillor is Kells and it will affect the people of that place.

"I think it's a win-win situation.

"I think people have the right to protest peacefully but it annoys me that they stick banners all around Cumbria, it also annoys me that they're going to squat on land that they don't own.

"I just hope that the people of Whitehaven don't get carried away and start going on protests themselves."

Councillor Edwin Dinsdale said: "We need the jobs, we need the coal, we need the mine. 

"The protestors' claims that the world will end if this mine opens and delivers coal for the steel industry is just that far-fetched it's unbelievable. 

"As a supporter of the mine and knowing the residents will be up in arms about it, ultimately everyone has the right to protest."

The group that is protesting, Earth First! says that their gathering brings people together from across the country who are interested in defending nature.

They were formed in 1991 as a grassroots movement to confront 'ecological destruction'.

The group said: "We have chosen to occupy the site of the proposed Whitehaven mine to send a message to those on these Isles and across the world: This mine will not go ahead, leave the coal in the hole."