Police, protesters scuffle at UK's Heathrow airport

Source: Reuters

Sun Aug 19, 2007 1:57PM EDT

By Simon Rabinovitch

LONDON (Reuters) - ~snip~ The clashes in a field close to airport operator BAA's building came after largely peaceful marches from a camp where campaigners, who want to draw attention to the impact of aviation on global warming, have been massing all week. ~snip~

About 200 marchers made it to the BAA car park where there was a strong police presence. Some protesters pitched tents and were planning to stay overnight. Police chased another group into fields, hitting some with truncheons, before ringing them. ~snip~

The protesters want Heathrow's expansion plans dropped and the growth of air travel halted. The protest comes at the height of the holiday season at the world's busiest international airport that handles nearly 70 million passengers a year. ~snip~

The climate change activists have been camped out for a week near Heathrow, west of London. Organisers estimated there were 1,000-1,200 protesters taking part in the protests. ~snip~

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1776244520070819