Heathrow court bid to arrest eco-protesters

The British Airports Authority has begun moves that would allow police to arrest members of named groups to prevent them taking part in demonstrations.

BAA will go to the High Court next week to seek judicial approval for an anti-environmentalist injunction. The terms of the injunction are so wide that they would leave millions of members of environmental groups open to arrest for crimes such as travelling on the London Underground or possessing a kite.

Anyone failing to give 24 hours' notice of a protest could be arrested for travelling on sections of the motorway or from standing on platforms 6 and 7 at Paddington station to catch the Heathrow Express.

It was reported that the terms of the injunction would cover: "All railway trains and carriages operating upon the Piccadilly line of the London Underground System; the M4 and all service stations between and including junctions 3 and 6; and the M25 and all service stations between and including junctions 13 and 15."

BAA said it had a duty to protect the public from disruption during the holiday season and added that it was not seeking to prevent legal protest.

The injunction is in response to a planned demonstration outside Heathrow. As revealed by the Evening Standard in May, up to 5,000 protesters were planning to pitch tents for a week near the airport from 14 August in protest at plans for a third runway.

Eco-warriors say they will set up a Greenham Common-style protest camp near the perimeter fence, which they intend to use as a base to disrupt flights at the peak of the tourist season to focus attention on climate change.

On Monday BAA served an injunction on four protest leaders who run environmental groups with more than five million members. It means members of groups including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the National Trust and RSPB would be banned from setting up a camp near Heathrow.

They would also be banned from carrying spades and loudhailers.

An as yet unspecified number would be allowed to meet on the outskirts of the airport providing they gave their names, car registration plates and advance notice.

Joss Garman, from Camp for Climate Action and Plane Stupid, was one of the protest leaders served with an injunction. He said: "It seems that having totally lost the arguments on climate change they are resorting to bullying tactics."