Group stage protest at airport

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Twenty-one protestors are sitting on the taxiway between two cargo holds, led by Baptist Minister Reverend Malcolm Carroll, a spokesman for the airport confirmed.

Ryan Martinez said the group are staging a peaceful protest and that the airport is operating as normal.

The airport's website is warning that one flight is currently delayed but Mr Martinez was unable to say whether the delays are a result of the protest.

"There are a group of 21 protestors who have breached our security. They are sitting on one of the taxiways in between the west cargo apron and the central cargo apron," he said.

"The police are obviously with them but it is peaceful. We haven't had any flights come in or take off since they have been here but the airport is not closed at the moment."

The group, hailing themselves "Plane Stupid", scaled the airport's perimeter fence shortly before 8am and staged the sit-in in a bid to highlight the effect aviation has on climate change, the group's spokesman Joss Garman said.

"Aviation is the greatest contributor to climate change," Mr Garman added.

"Reverend Carroll is leading a service of remembrance for the victims of climate change. The effects of aviation on the climate this century, if we don't stop short-haul flights, will be catastrophic. According to the UN 150,000 people die every year from climate change. That is a 9/11 every week. The only reasonable solution is to stop short-haul flights."

The group, thought to be the first direct action environmental group targeting the aviation industry, are part of the wider "Climate Camp" group, responsible for the recent protests at the Drax power station in North Yorkshire.