Human chain at airport protest

UP to 25,000 people formed a "human chain" around the site of a controversial new airport near Nantes.

The protest at the weekend is the latest in a series of sometimes violent confrontations, as campaigners seek a ban on building work at Notre-Dame-des-Landes.

The Loire préfecture said between 12,000 and 17,500 people attended. Organisers told local television network France 3 that 25,000 people were present and they had travelled from all over France.

Three recent government reports have called for more environmental impact assessments to be carried out on the site, which is due to replace the old Nantes airport and act a a major regional hub for the west of France.

The government strongly backs the €580 million airport plan which will create jobs in construction and a new international link, with a capacity of four million passengers and the ability to extend this to nine million. It would also have direct rail and motorway links.