PROTESTERS holding a four-day camp on the beach near Sizewell Nuclear Power Station have claimed the event has helped forge links with residents.

A spokeswoman for the Stop Nuclear Power Network, which organised the camp, said a public meeting on Saturday had seen families and councillors attend and ask questions about the motivation behind the protest.

Mel Harrison, who lives in Geldeston and is also a development worker for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), said the protesters had only been in contact with British Energy, which runs Sizewell, via Suffolk police.

Speaking yesterday as the camp was in full flow, Ms Harrison said more than 50 protesters had been involved over the first three days of the camp.

She said: “It has been going really well. On Saturday we held a public meeting and some local people came along and we chatted about why we were on the beach and protesting, and why it’s been happening at Sizewell.

“It was a chance for local people to put their views across about how it [the power station] affects them.

“We had some good feedback. We had families, somebody who was on the local council and people who had worked on the power station as well.”

The protest camp will break up at some point today and the campaigners, many of whom are from Suffolk, will head home.

Last night a spokeswoman for EDF Energy, which incorporates British Energy, said the company had been in regular contact with the police throughout the weekend.

She said: “Although we respect the rights of individuals to peaceful protest, we are sympathetic to the pressure these events can place on the local community with whom we have strong links.

“EDF Energy places its highest priority on the safety and security of the public, its staff, buildings and installations.

“We maintain regular contact with the police and other appropriate agencies and regularly review and adjust our security procedures across our sites.

“For obvious reasons we cannot discuss the detail of what security precautions we have in place.”