Published: Monday, 27th October, 2008 2:46pm

Residents disrupted by anti-nuclear protest

by Alex Gore

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HUNDREDS of anti-nuclear protesters disrupted AWE staff getting to work this morning leading to more than 30 arrests and headaches for residents and motorists.

Around 300 protesters, from various anti-nuclear groups including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Trident Ploughshares, began descending on the gates of the Aldermaston site at around 6am.

Protesters super-glued themselves together in front of the West Gate, handcuffed themselves to concrete-filled tubes outside the Home Office gate and hung themselves from a protest tripod outside construction gate.

CND chairwoman Kate Hudson said: "We have effectively obstructed work at the site for many hours, closing gates and blocking roads.

"This is the biggest blockade for many years and is a big step forward for the campaign against nuclear weapons as the public's concern over this country's weapons of mass destruction increases.

"The Government is spending billions of pounds on these weapons at a time when people are suffering from the financial crisis and crying out for more investment in services such as schools and health care."

Not only was traffic around the site disrupted by protesters mounting spontaneous road blocks, but from between 8-9.30am police closed the A340 Paices Hill from Aldermaston to the Calleva Business Park roundabout as well as part of Reading Road.

A worker at engineers Weir, Strachan and Henshaw, based at Calleva Business Park, who asked not to be named, said: "I come to work from the Brimpton area but today it took me an extra hour and a half because of the traffic.

"I appreciate that they have a right to protest but they are really just hitting the people who live and work around here who have nothing to do with the AWE."

Ruby Smith, 79, who has lived opposite the West Gate for almost 50 years, said: "I am furious. They woke me up at 6.30am this morning banging on a drum. I wish they would be more considerate of the people who live near the site."

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