Swampy defies runway tunnel ban

The A30 bypass protestor "Swampy" returned to the site of the proposed second runway at Manchester airport last night in apparent defiance of bail conditions set yesterday.

Swampy, whose real name is Daniel Hooper, was arrested by Wilmslow police on Sunday night after joining a protest against the building of a pounds 170m runway. It is understood that part of the fence near the protesters' camp was damaged.

A spokesman for the coalition against Runway 2 said Hooper, 23, from Hazlemere in Buckinghamshire, had gone inside one of the tunnels the activists had dug to prevent work on the runway. "He has gone back because he feels that his bail conditions are unfair and he is quite prepared to be rearrested."

Hooper is due to appear before Macclesfield magistrates on 18 April.