PROTESTERS have hit out at police after arrests have been made at a power station in North Yorkshire.

As The Press reported earlier today, North  Yorkshire Police say they arrested 22 people for public order offences in response to a planned climate camp at Drax Power Station near Selby between August 8 and 13.

Now protest group Reclaim the Power has said in a statement that police have chosen to prioritise covering the power plant protest over violent protests elsewhere in the country.

"Communities are under attack with fire and bricks and the police have made the unfathomable decision to divert resources away from those communities to arrest 22 people taking equipment to make a peaceful climate protest safe and accessible", the say.

“The police claim they ‘not against protest but against crime’, but their actions show otherwise. In Yorkshire this morning, police prioritised locating and arresting people suspected of organising peaceful protest with tents, toilets and track for wheelchairs over locating and arresting people who are actually organising, far right riots with bricks, knives and other weapons.”

Police have arrested 22 overnight (August 7/8) for public order offences which includes conspiracy to interfere with key national infrastructure. 

Various items which would be associated with large scale protest have also been seized.

The 22 currently remain in police custody.

It follows the power station securing an injunction against the threat of environmental protests.

And from today, police officers will have a highly visible presence for the duration of the camp to ensure that disruption to our communities is kept to a minimum.  

They have said that any offences including outbreaks of disorder will be robustly dealt with and extra stop and search powers for police have been issued around the Drax protest.

The Silver Commander for this operation, Superintendent Ed Haywood-Noble of North Yorkshire Police said: “Policing is not anti-protest, we are anti-crime and we are here to protect the public.

"The right to peaceful protest is part of UK Democracy.

“It’s our responsibility to manage the protest in line with legal obligations. We also have a duty to ensure that people who work at Drax and members of the local community can go about their daily business as usual.

“At a time when police resources are stretched nationally it was essential that we acted both swiftly and robustly to reduce the risk of unlawful activity and disruption over the coming days."

A Drax spokesperson said: “Our operations have not been affected by the actions of these protestors, we are continuing to generate the reliable, renewable power millions of UK homes and businesses rely on.

"We thank North Yorkshire Police for their swift action this morning to protect our colleagues and the wider community.

“We respect everyone’s right to protest peacefully. However, this climate protest is completely misguided.

“Drax has been at the forefront of efforts to help the UK to decarbonise at a faster rate than any other country and is the country’s biggest renewable power generator by output, keeping the lights on for four million homes and businesses across the UK.

“We now plan to combine our bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), to remove millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere whilst producing secure, renewable power. According to leading international authorities on climate change, BECCS is a critical climate saving technology.”