By Nick Parry BBC Wales News website

Pipe protesters spend first night

"Morale is high," said Nick, one of the campaigners who are demonstrating in the Swansea valley.

There were about a dozen protesters on site, some from local villages and others from Cardiff and Swansea.

National Grid said the project was "vital" for securing the UK's energy needs for the future.

The campaigners, who began their protest on Monday and stayed overnight, said they are taking it in turns to occupy the section of pipe at the bottom of a 40ft trench.

Meanwhile, all machinery is lying idle.

About three protesters are inside the pipe at any one time and a camp has been set up 300 yards away, where they have a fire and tents.

PIPELINE FACTS Will supply 20% of the UK's gas needs Crosses 16 roads, 40 rivers and streams and nine railway lines 1,300 people working on it, over half from south Wales 23,000 sections of pipe between 12 - 18m long Uses 242,000 tonnes of steel

They are also using an outbuilding which is full of food, which they said had been donated by well-wishers..

Nick said: "We're here for a serious reason, otherwise we would not be sleeping in a pipe... There are alternatives - wind, solar and hydro power."

"We want to stop the pipe and draw attention to it going ahead. Not enough people know about it and the amount of destruction it's causing. We've all heard of climate change, so why are we carrying on using fossil fuels?"

If they are moved on, they plan to set up elsewhere.

"The pipeline is very long and we can just move along to the next site," added Nick.

A National Grid spokesman: "We've worked very hard with the local community to explain exactly what we're doing," said a spokesman.

The company said it was concerned about health and safety on site during the protest. The contractors have withdrawn and are keeping watch from a distance.

The police helicopter has circled the site but police presence has been minimal.