Scunthorpe power station protesters sentenced

Protesters blocked the gates at Keadby power station in North Lincolnshire in July

Climate change protesters who blocked the entrance and climbed cranes at the site of a new gas-fired power station have been given conditional discharges.

The protesters had all been charged with obstruction of the highway following protests in July at the site of a new £350m power station.

Keadby 2, near Scunthorpe, is being built alongside an existing facility.

The five women were each given a 12-month conditional discharge at Grimsby Magistrates' Court.

Ellen Gibson, 25, of Almond Close, London; Leilah Botham, 41, of Compass Close, Oxford; Elizabeth Howson, 26, of Park Crescent, Bristol; Zoe Smith, 42, of Llandaff Road, Cardiff; and Maddy Yarwood, 25, of Park Crescent, Bristol, were also ordered to pay court costs.

Following the hearing Gibson said: "We regret any disturbance that was caused by our actions, but we think this construction shouldn't go ahead and we're pleased to have been able to make that protest."

SSE, which owns the site, previously said the plant, which will produce 840MW of electricity, would be "the cleanest and most-efficient gas-fired power station in Europe".