A coal terminal in South Lanarkshire was brought to a standstill this morning when a protestor locked himself to a piece of machinery.

At 9am this morning (Wed 27th) a man climbed to the top of a digger and locked himself to it by his leg, effectively shutting down Ravenstruther coal rail terminal.

About 15 trucks full of coal are unable to access the terminal and have been forced to dump their load, and the coal train that was being loaded has been stopped.

Ravenstruther is where coal from the open-cast mines in South Lanarkshire is loaded onto trains and sent south to power stations such as Drax.

An hour after the action started NETCU and 6 police officers arrived.

This action was taken in solidarity with Mainshill Solidarity Camp which is in the third day of resisting eviction.

The Scottish Government is approving up to 33 new open cast coal sites. A protestor from Mainshill said: “As Climate Chaos grows exponentially worse, it is becoming more and more important to resist and obstruct the ever enlarging fossil fuel industry. We will do everything in our power to make the extraction, transport, and burning of coal as financially unviable as possible by continuing to fight against it at every step of the way, from the mines to the power stations."