POLICE in North Yorkshire say they have arrested 22 people for public order offences at a protest in North Yorkshire.
The county's police force and the British Transport Police are working on a joint operation in response to a planned climate camp at Drax Power Station near Selby between August 8 and 13 2024.
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They 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 secures 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.
Any offences including outbreaks of disorder will be robustly dealt with.
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.”
Jo Coles, York and North Yorkshire deputy mayor, said: “The mayor’s office is aware of an organised protest at Drax over the coming days and of the concerns of the environmental protestors due to attend. Over recent weeks we have been working with North Yorkshire Police to ensure the right to a lawful and peaceful protest is maintained as well as ensuring people feel safe and are kept safe.
“North Yorkshire Police have been aware of this planned protest for some time now and have been making preparations. Our police officers work hard every day to keep us safe and will continue to do so during the Drax protests. We ask everyone to respect the job they have to do to uphold the right to protest peacefully, keep the community safe and to maintain public order.”
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