At 8.30am on Monday the National Eviction Team and Strathclyde Police began the long process of removing protesters from the wood, with 19 arrests reported.

However, with tunnels, treehouses and enough food to feed a small country, it seems the protest, which began seven months ago, is far from over.

Protester Ross Jones spoke to the Gazette from his treehouse.

He said: "At the moment we are in high spirits. There are about 60 of us in the woods and it will be a long time before they will be able to get us all out."

As soon as news broke, villagers — young and old — arrived at Mainshill to lend protesters support.

Mainshill protesters started their campaign in June last year when South Lanarkshire Council and the Scottish Government agreed to allow the new opencast mine — despite a lengthy campaign by the community.

The Gazette has covered the on-going story ever since, impartially.

But when we turned up on Monday, we were refused permission to the site — despite national television crews being allowed access to the camp!

For more information on this story, pick up a copy of this week's Carluke and Lanark Gazette which is in the shops now.