Six environmental campaigners have been arrested after a protest which shut down a coal rail depot in South Lanarkshire.

Six environmental campaigners have been arrested after a protest which shut down a coal rail depot in South Lanarkshire.

The three men and three women were among 30 protesters who blockaded the Ravenstruther terminal, near Lanark, erecting and scaling a 15ft scaffolding tripod and blocking trucks from entering the terminal.

Others were locked by their necks to a conveyor belt and a bulldozer, preventing coal stockpiles from being loaded.

The six who are alleged to have entered the terminal were arrested by the British Transport Police and are due to appear at Lanark Sheriff Court today.

The protesters from Coal Action Scotland say they will continue to demonstrate.

The demonstration was aimed at stopping coal from being delivered to the rail terminal from open cast mines and in resistance to the 13 new open cast coal mines due to open in Scotland.

"This action is being taken to impact the operations of Scottish Coal and Scottish Power in the region, stopping coal being delivered from five local open cast mines," said Coal Action Scotland in a statement.

Scottish Coal said that the action had resulted in the postponing of some coal trains but stressed it would have no effect on coal supplies at power stations.

One of the protesters, Rebecca Mackenzie, a local resident said: "We're here today to send a clear message that we don't want parts of Scotland such as South Lanarkshire to become the most heavily mined areas in Europe."

Coal Action Scotland said it apologised to any workers affected by the demonstration "but in recognising the desperate need to stop burning coal sees no other choice but to target the companies responsible for mining it."

It added: "Because of the burning of coal it will be impossible for Scotland to meet its 80% target reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050."