PROTESTERS gathered in Bowness to oppose a new coal mine proposed for the west coast of Cumbria.

Colourful Banners carried messages including “Stop Coal, Keep it in the Hole…too Near Sellafield”, “Coal Chokes, Nukes Annihilate, Stop the Mine,” as they protested against the proposed site at St Bees.

Radiation Free Lakeland campaigner Marianne Birkby said: “This is a small but determined rally, people have travelled from west Cumbria, Lancaster and even as far away as London to stand in opposition to the coal mine.

"The more people know about it the more deeply angry they are at the thought of deep coal mining in such close proximity to Sellafield. We have just been speaking to a miner from Yorkshire who says the plan is absolutely the most dangerous thing he has heard of.”

Cumbria County Council will sit to consider the plans on November 1 at Kendal's County Hall.