Police on alert as climate camp sets up at Heathrow

LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) Police were on heightened alert at London's Heathrow airport today as climate campaigners set up a protest camp next to the perimeter of the world's busiest international air transport hub.

The protesters plan a week of activities which they say will culminate on Sunday in 24 hours of ''direct action'' in a bid to force the government to halt the planned expansion of the airport which they argue is fuelling global warming.

It comes at the height of the holiday season, three months after a blazing jeep was used in an attack on Glasgow airport and a year after police thwarted what they said was a plan to bomb airliners flying out of Heathrow to the United States.

''We want to halt this massive ecological disaster and push the government and the corporations into taking the actions they are unwilling to do and to stop the expansion of Heathrow,'' a spokeswoman for the protesters said.

She declined to say what the ''direct action'' from midday on Sunday to midday on Monday next week would entail but said they would target British Airways and airport operator BAA, owned by Spanish construction and services group Ferrovial .

''Our problem is not with the passengers. It is with the corporations and the government,'' she said.

Scientists say air transport is contributing to global warming from burning fossil fuels for transport and power, and note that carbon dioxide and water vapour at high altitudes make aviation emissions four times worse that at sea level.

The British government is committed to tackling climate change by cutting CO2 emissions but is also committed to a rapid expansion of air travel.

Police said around 250 protesters had already arrived at the camp which is just to the north of the airport, directly in the path of a proposed third runway and close to BAA's headquarters.

They were patrolling the site, which was quiet. Organisers expect a total of around 1,500 people to join the camp.

Extra officers had been drafted in to deal with the anticipated protest actions at the weekend, police said.

BAA said the airport was functioning as normal today.

Heathrow, which BAA says is the world's busiest international airport, handles nearly 500,000 flights a year or an average of close to one a minute. Opened 60 years ago, it was designed to cater for 40 million passengers a year but is already handling close to 70 million.

August is the busiest month with holidaymakers packing the four terminals. A fifth terminal is due to open next year.

''Around 1.5 million passengers are due to pass through Heathrow during the week of climate camp, many of them families on their summer holidays,'' a BAA spokesman said.

''It is our responsibility to ensure that we do everything we can to guarantee their safety and comfort.'' A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown said peaceful protest was a legitimate right but that any action to disrupt Heathrow would be ''unacceptable''.

REUTERS SKB KP1740