Hastings activists transform Long Man into protestor

A group of anti-fracking activists from Hastings have caused a stir after transforming The Long Man of Wilmington into a protester this morning (October 16).
LONG MAN OF WILMINGTON 'FRACK OFF" TEAM THAT PLACED IT UP THERE - ANGRY FARMERS REMOVED IT - CONTACT GROUP ON 07754750051 - BECKY SUS-151016-114151001LONG MAN OF WILMINGTON 'FRACK OFF" TEAM THAT PLACED IT UP THERE - ANGRY FARMERS REMOVED IT - CONTACT GROUP ON 07754750051 - BECKY SUS-151016-114151001
LONG MAN OF WILMINGTON 'FRACK OFF" TEAM THAT PLACED IT UP THERE - ANGRY FARMERS REMOVED IT - CONTACT GROUP ON 07754750051 - BECKY SUS-151016-114151001

Protest group Don’t Frack With Sussex transformed the icon hill figure as a protest against Hastings MP Amber Rudd, who is also Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

The group used large tarpaulin letters to spell out the message “Frack Off”, causing no damage to the historic landmark.

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Protestor Mike Laloë said, “We did our homework to make sure we didn’t do any damage to The Long Man. What we did was totally legal and the police were really supportive.

LONG MAN OF WILMINGTON 'FRACK OFF" SUS-151016-114229001LONG MAN OF WILMINGTON 'FRACK OFF" SUS-151016-114229001
LONG MAN OF WILMINGTON 'FRACK OFF" SUS-151016-114229001

“We did get a little bit of abuse from a farmer who told us ‘don’t do your fracking here’.”

The protesters are constituents of Amber Rudd and say her policies on fracking will hurt the Sussex countryside.

The protest comes as several fracking companies seek planning permission for sites in Sussex.

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They include two sites – Wisborough Green and Linchmere West – which are near to the border of the South Downs National Park.

LONG MAN OF WILMINGTON 'FRACK OFF" SUS-151016-114217001LONG MAN OF WILMINGTON 'FRACK OFF" SUS-151016-114217001
LONG MAN OF WILMINGTON 'FRACK OFF" SUS-151016-114217001

Beccy Mccray said,“It is so shortsighted to pursue fracking in this area especially when there is such a large amount of untapped green energy.

“We have more wind and sunshine here in Sussex than almost anywhere in the UK.”

The protesters were able to set up the sign in the early hours of this morning.

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A police spokesman said, ”Police were made aware of a sign at The Long man of Wilmington around 8.20am on Friday, October 16.

“The protesters have been spoken to at the site and officers are monitoring the situation.”

As well as raising awareness of fracking issues in the South East the group has set up a petition calling on Amber Rudd to commit to renewable energy rather than fracking.

It is available online here

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