Cumbria coalmine protests planned as local opposition grows

Campaigners expected to gather on Friday and Saturday, and possible legal challenge is being explored

Campaigners in Cumbria are planning protests after the government gave the green light to the first new coalmine to be dug in the UK for three decades.

Opponents of the mine are expected to gather in Penrith on Friday and at the site of the mine in Whitehaven on Saturday, as local opposition to the scheme gathers steam.