Court hears protest led to road closure between Blackpool and Preston

In all, six pairs of protesters locked themselves together across the lanes of the A583 in three different areas near the Cuadrilla gas exploration site at Little Plumpton.

All 12 deny wilfully obstructing the highway when they appeared before District Judge Jim Clarke sitting at Blackpool Magistrates’ Court.

The 12 defendants are: James Alden, 53, of Manchester; Liz Beck, 55, of the protest camp at Blackpool; Sarah Boyle, 30, of Mowbray Road, Fleetwood; Barbara Cookson, 67, of Liverpool; Benjamin Deevoy, 42, of the protest camp; Catherine Jackson. 50, of Mowbray Road, Fleetwood; Stephen Jone, 44, of the protest camp; John Knox, 31, of Dugdale Close, Blackpool; Sibi Moore, 22, of the protest camp; Ellie Stanton, 24, of Dugdale Close, Blackpool’ and Mark Taylor, 43, of the protest camp.

The incident happened onAugust 2 last year.

(Proceeding)