PROTEST DIGS ITS HEELS IN By Tara De Cozer . Nottingham Evening Post . 30 September 2003 Eco-protesters are digging deep to help residents of a Notts community save their local trees.
		Following a court order declaring protesters camping in trees at Mansfield Woodhouse trespassers, volunteers are preparing to move underground to help save ancient trees destined for the chop. A specially-constructed tunnel dug deep into the limestone under the site could be home to two protesters for up to a month - halting the development planned on the land. "It will be hard being down there, it's not that comfortable," said Dave Murphy, one of the protesters volunteering to go into the tunnel. "But it will be worth it to save the trees and the site."
	The group is disputing developer Bellway Homes's right to fell woodland running along Debdale Lane past its junction with Sherwood Rise to broaden the road. They have been camping on the site for around a month, and even sleeping 60ft up in a 300-year-old beech tree next to the junction. Yesterday, Mansfield County Court Judge Steven Waine backed Bellway's claim that the protesters are camping illegally and trespassing on the site. This paves the way for the company to remove the protesters from the site. The county court bailiffs will now attempt to evict the protesters from the site. Bellway Homes spokesman Julian Kenyon said: "The protesters will be informed that they are trespassing and we would hope that they would move voluntarily. "If they do not the authorities will take over. "We are going through the correct authorities to resolve this." But the tree-dwellers are not giving up yet. Over the past month the 30-strong group has dug a tunnel through the limestone under the site, complete with a living area. The tunnel, which goes straight down through the rock and then back away from Debdale Lane, has been stocked with food, water and lighting and ventilation systems. Once inside, the protesters can lock themselves in using two reinforced steel trapdoors. And the bottom trapdoor has a noose attached to it that will be around the neck of one of the tunnel's inhabitants at all times, which will be pulled taut if the door is opened from the outside. The group is ready to move underground at a moment's notice.

	The protesters are now waiting for the warning that the county court bailiffs are on their way to evict them. Mr Murphy said: "When the bailiffs come two of us will drop down and lock ourselves in. "We would like to leave - take everything down and just go - but with the trees still standing. That would be wonderful. Until we can be sure of that, we will stick around, underground if necessary." Local residents are also planning to fight the development through the courts, citing their right of way across the site and the land's status as a village green. They are disappointed by Judge Waines ruling in favour of Bellway Homes. Resident Mary Parkin said: "I can understand the judge's decision. "I find him a very fair man, and on the evidence he had before him it was a fair decision. "But for the thousand people who have signed the petition against this development it is a death blow."