Protest flags outside power plant

Campaigners want the government to halt the plans for Kingsnorth

Climate campaigners have put flags outside a power station in Kent where a new coal-fired plant is planned.

The Stop Climate Chaos Coalition took its protest to the Kingsnorth site on the Hoo peninsula on Tuesday.

Campaigners also wrote a letter to prime minister Gordon Brown, urging him to halt plans for power stations that cannot trap greenhouse gas emissions.

E.On UK has said it will demolish the existing plant and replace it with a coal-fired unit that is 20% cleaner.

Medway Council approved the E.On planning application at the beginning of January, and the final decision on the proposed coal-fired station will now be made by the government.

If approved, E.On said the power station would be operational by 2012 and provide energy for 1.5 million homes.

'Defining moment'

The Stop Climate Chaos Coalition includes the Women's Institute, Oxfam, Greenpeace, WWF, the RSPB, Christian Aid, Tearfund, People and Planet and Friends of the Earth.

Fay Mansell, chairwoman of the National Federation of Women's Institutes, said women were "hardest hit" by climate change and had a "key role to play in helping their families and communities adapt".

She said the Women's Institute wanted to see "a commitment to renewable energy in the UK which will lead the way for the rest of the world to follow".

Ashok Sinha, director of the coalition, said: "Gordon Brown's decision on new coal-fired power plants could be a defining moment in the fight against climate change."

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