Revealed, tunnel labyrinth dug by eco-warriors to stop oil drilling at beauty spot
WHeN an oil firm proposed to start drilling through acres of beautiful woodland, locals and conservation groups were outraged.
Following a four-year planning battle permission was finally granted for the controversial project.
So, in a bid to stop the oil firm digging up the countryside, a group of environmental activists decided to do some digging of their own.
Four campaigners spent months secretly digging a warren of tunnels beneath the green belt site in the Surrey Hills, with the objective of barricading themselves inside to stop the exploratory drilling.
When the labyrinth of ‘ Great escapelike’ tunnels was discovered by bailiffs working on behalf of drilling company europa Oil and Gas in the early hours of Wednesday, they feared they were facing a protest ‘worse than Swampy’.
the eco- warrior, real name Daniel Hooper, was responsible for several tunnel protests in the Nineties.
Specialist teams were drafted in to evict the subterranean campaigners.
But after a rescue effort lasting almost more than 24 hours, which included oxygen being pumped into the tunnels, it emerged no-one was down there.
In fact the protesters were hiding in a makeshift wooden fortress above ground, having chained themselves to part of a 25ft tower, from which they were removed last night. the camp had been on the site since October
One female protester, who did not want to be named, said they had planned to barricade themselves in the tunnels but were caught out by the early arrival of the bailiffs. She said: ‘ Obviously we were expecting them to come but not at 5am. People had planned on using the tunnels but weren’t able to get down there.’
Fearing there were people underground, the rescue teams installed wooden panels to shore up the entrancesthey painstakinglyto the 30ft-long deconstructed tunnels. the fort as watching protesters hurled abuse.
alongside spades, they discovered a copy of ‘Disco Dave’s tunnelling Guide’, a manual favoured by fracking protesters. Speaking before the site was cleared, Peter Faulding – chief executive of protest removal firm Specialist Group International – said: ‘It is exactly like the Great escape tunnels. ‘to be fair, they have done a great job as the have hand- dug out tunnels which run under the surface about 20 to 30 feet long. ‘they are tiny as only one person can get through them ... and we have been told there are protesters down there and they could be in chambers chained up. the tunnels have been dug through sand are very unstable. We cannot move vehicles on to the site.’ the oil project was rejected by Surreyafter widespreadCounty Council opposition,in 2011 before it was finally approved in 2015 following two public inquiries. It involves cutting down around a hectare of woodland and erecting a derrick up to 100ft high in Bury Hill Wood near the popu- lar beauty spot of Leith Hill. Drillers hope to strike ‘black gold’ a kilometre below ground around a mile away. With the site cleared of people, europa, which has three oil fields in the east Midlands, is set to start 18 weeks of drilling at the designated area of outstanding natural beauty. this is despite technical reports suggesting there is only a one in three chance of finding oil.