16 held after protest at Trident base

Published on Saturday 24 February 2007 00:24

A GREENPEACE vessel was stormed by police last night, after it blockaded the Faslane submarine base on the Clyde.

About 20 officers with battering rams climbed aboard the Arctic Sunrise at 5:15pm as it lay anchored outside the home of the Trident system.

The 164ft former icebreaker breached the restricted area of the base early yesterday as part of an anti-nuclear protest, eventually dropping anchor just outside a defensive boom.

Around 20 activists on board refused requests by MoD police to move the vessel, but the officers got on board after an hour of cat-and-mouse manoeuvres.

A Royal Navy spokesman said police took control of the vessel at 5:25pm and encountered no resistance. The Arctic Sunrise

was accompanied by other protesters in six rigid hull inflatable boats. At least 16 people were held after police moved on the smaller craft.

The Greenpeace protesters, angry at government plans to renew the Trident weapon system, had mounted the action to coincide with a planned visit of a delegation of Labour MPs, which was called off.