PROTESTERS have collected 10,000 signatures against new nuclear reactors being built on an Essex site.

A 10-strong team from Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) will deliver the petition to a Government minister on Tuesday, February 1.

They will meet with Charles Hendry MP, Energy minister, in a bid to get Bradwell removed from a shortlist of eight sites earmarked for new nuclear reactors.

Varrie Blowers, secretary of BANNG, said: “Getting so many signatures from local communities and those with ties to the area is a colossal achievement and it demonstrates unequivocally the sheer strength of opposition to the proposal.

“Meeting the minister presents us with a great opportunity to put our views backed as they are by thousands of citizens around the Blackwater estuary.

“Our objective is to get him to see how wrong it would be to persist with proposals for Bradwell. We shall urge him to take it off the list.”

BANNG said that 20 of its volunteers had collected the signatures from residents near Bradwell-on-Sea over the last 18 months.

The group, which has been fighting the Government’s proposals for the last three years, said up to three reactors would ‘destroy habitats and the oyster industry and transform a tranquil estuary into a dangerous industrial complex’.

They are also worried about how large populations on Mersea Island and surrounding communities would be safely evacuated in the event of an emergency.

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “We know that local people will know their site and will have information to offer our assessment. We consulted on sites to get people’s views on whether our assessment is correct.

“We are grateful for the level of engagement and interest in this consultation, which shows that local communities are keen to make their views heard. We are particularly interested in the evidence behind people’s views on the suitability of sites.”