The park will be used by young skateboarders

About 70-80 protesters, many of them elderly, had pitched tents on open land in the town to try to stop council contractors moving in to begin work there.

But armed with a court injunction, workmen from Monmouthshire County Council moved back in on Wednesday amid shouted complaints from some of those who had been forced to abandon their protest.

The park, which will be used by young skaters, skateboarders and BMX bikers, is due to be built in an area known as Piggy's Hill.

The protesters claim the development will stop elderly people using the area

Contractors begin the construction of the skate park

They say they will now look at other ways of opposing the skate park.

"The site for it is totally wrong... look at the beautiful day we have, and I think it will be completely destroyed by this skateboard park," said one of the protesters, Bryan Rendell.

Another, Geoff Phelps said: "I would like to know how the council propose to put a means of access onto a classified road without first obtaining planning permission which would then give us reasons to object and oppose the application which is in our human rights to do so."

But Peter Ellis, of Monmouthshire council, said: "We took an injunction out because we needed to have free access to the site.

"The protestors have stopped us having access for the last five weeks.

"We needed to get the contractors on site and unencumbered so they can get on with the delivery of the skate park."