Rochdale peace campaigners help close nuclear bomb factory

Mai Chatham and Pat Sanchez from Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group support the blockade of the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Burghfield, near Aldermaston

1 More Image(s) In Gallery

Three members of Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group travelled the 200 miles to Berkshire yesterday (2 March 2015) to support the blockade of the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Burghfield, near Aldermaston.

Mai Chatham, Pat Sanchez and Philip Gilligan, from Littleborough, joined hundreds of other anti-nuclear protesters from around the country who blockaded all three entrances to facility which develops warheads for the Trident nuclear weapons system.

Campaigners locked themselves to each other and to concrete blocks and stopped all traffc in and out of the area where new buildings are being constructed.

The blockade started at 07:00 GMT and also included protesters from France and Finland.

Action AWE, which organised the 'Burghfield Lockdown', said the protest aimed to bring 'work on Trident warheads to a halt'.

Pat Sanchez said: "We were delighted to do something to slow down production of these dangerous and evil weapons of mass destruction.

"They threaten all of us and our planet on a daily basis.

"If used they will destroy us all. We need to scrap them now.

"We need to stop squandering £billions on ways to destroy our world and to use these wasted resources for the services we urgently need.

"We need these £billions for our NHS, to bulid homes, for schools and social care services.

"We should not be wasting them on nuclear weapons that threaten all our futures."