Climate change protesters today hijacked a train taking coal to a Yorkshire power station as part of a campaign to close the plant, one of the largest in Europe.

Around 20 protesters began shovelling coal out of the trucks after ambushing the train on a bridge over the River Aire. Other members of the group attached lines to the wheels and were hanging off them over the river to prevent the train moving, one of the activists said.

The train was stopped with a red flag just short of Drax power station in North Yorkshire, the smoking towers of which loomed in the distance as police gathered at the scene.

Most of protesters were dressed in white overalls with hoods and wearing white masks. One was dressed as a yellow bird.

As well as shovelling coal from the load inside, the group unfurled a 15ft long yellow banner with the slogan “Leave It In The Ground!”

In front of the train a number of police officers gathered, apparently waiting to see what the protesters did next. A larger contingent of officers was stationed further down the track.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “We’ve been made aware of a number of protestors at Rawcliffe.

“British Transport Police and North Yorkshire Police are responding to the scene. No further details are available at present.”

The climate change campaigners are attempting to prevent the train — which they say is carrying 1,000 tonnes of coal to Drax — reaching the power station.

They claim that to tackle the threat of global warming effectively, Drax should be shut down immediately, as it is the largest single greenhouse gas polluter in the country.

The protesters said they would not leave the train until Drax’s chief executive, Dorothy Thompson, explained how the company’s emissions of 20 million tonnes of CO2 a year is compatible with tackling climate change.

One member of the group, Ben Tennyson, said: “We’ve stopped this train to prevent it delivering 1,000 tonnes of coal to be burned at Drax and then released into the atmosphere.

“If we’re serious about fighting climate change, we have to leave this dirty fuel in the ground and invest in clean, renewable energy sources instead.”

Managers at the power plant insist that they are working hard to tackle climate change, saying they are spending £180 million to cut emissions by three million tonnes a year through efficiency improvements and by “co-firing” the coal with renewable biomass fuels.

Melanie Wedgbury, head of external affairs at the plant, said: “We are the largest, cleanest, most efficient power station in the UK.

“For every unit of electricity we generate, we generate less CO2 than any other of the coal-fired stations. It’s purely because of our size that makes us the biggest CO2 producer.”

She said the action by the protesters had not had an impact on operations at the power plant, and there was no immediate danger of it doing so.

Drax produces enough electricity to power six million homes, supplying as much as 7 per cent of the country’s power needs.

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