Two arrested at Oxford Airport protest (From Oxford Mail)

Two arrested at Oxford Airport protest

6:53pm Sunday 13th September 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(3)

TWO protesters were arrested for trespassing in a failed attempt to shut down Oxford airport.

Campaigners from Climate Rush had claimed up to 120 people were going “cause havoc” to close the airport in Kidlington in a protest against the airport’s expansion plans.

Instead, a group of about 30 campaigners were stopped at the gate by about 20 police officers yesterday. So they had a picnic outside instead.

Extra security guards were patrolling the airport’s perimeter through the day to make sure protesters did not get in.

However, a 20-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were arrested during the afternoon on suspicion of trespass.

Today, a spokesman for Climate Rush, a campaign group which aims to raise awareness of climate change, said two people had climbed under a hedge, over a fence and got as far as the runway.

The protest was timed with the final charter flight of the summer to Jersey and was aimed against plans to open routes to Amsterdam, Paris, Geneva and Edinburgh.

It was led by Climate Rush founder Tamsin Omond, 24, who is banned from going within one kilometre of Parliament after leading 600 people to storm an entrance to the Palace of Westminster last year.

She said: “Overall I think the day was a success. We have made our point that Oxford is not the right place for a commercial airport.

“We had wanted to get into the terminal and have a big picnic in there. It would have been much more effective.

“But generally I am pleased, and it was great to see so many protesters from Oxford turning up to support the cause.”

Protestors dressed in old-fashioned outfits during the picnic, which took place yards from Thames Valley Police’s headquarters north in Kidlington.

They marched in procession and sang songs about suffragettes, whose campaign they model their own tactics on.

One protestor had written Don’t Fly in the Face of Common Sense on a placard.

No-one from the airport, recently renamed London Oxford, was available for comment.

Campaigner Sarah Lasenby, from East Oxford, said: “I have come along today because I don’t want an increase in flying in Oxford. A bigger airport here will be a very bad thing.”

Phil Ball, 38, of Milton-under-Wychwood, brought his two sons, James, three, and Oliver, four, to the protest.

He said: “I came down here because I am concerned about climate change.

“People using this airport with their executive jets are sticking two fingers up at every one of us trying to do their bit.

“It is highly arrogant and the company behind the airport is looking to expand even further.

“The very fact they have put ‘London’ in its name is evidence enough of their intentions, which is highly worrying.”

Janet McKnight, from East Oxford, added: “People who are worried about climate change need to stand up and be counted. It is the only way of getting heard.”

Police spokesman Victoria Brandon said: “The event passed relatively peacefully, and we were able to facilitate an orderly and peaceful protest.”

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(3)