PROTESTORS marched through Weymouth town centre in their latest bid to stop Portland’s new power plant.

More than 200 campaigners paraded along the seafront to Hope Square with banners and handed out leaflets opposing a biofuel plant at Portland Port.

Families and environmentalists also distributed No Oil Palm Energy (NOPE) campaign posters showing children wearing masks to protect them from fumes on Weymouth beach.

One banner called for W4B Renewable Energy to abandon its plans and keep the air clean for the inmates at the Verne Prison and ‘respect their human rights.’ The protestors were given a police escort across The Esplanade and into St Mary Street before they stopped momentarily outside Debenhams.

Portland town councillor Richard Denton-White again led the march as he did on Portland in February.

The crowd echoed his chants including, ‘We don’t want a power plant, come and join us, sing our chant.’ Shopper May Hill, aged 74, of Broadwey Close, Weymouth, said she did not know about the plant and was going to read the leaflet she was handed.

She said of the march: “I can’t see them doing any harm and it’s a free society.

“They will probably get their message across.”

South Dorset Parliamentary candidates Jim Knight, Ros Kayes and Brian Heatley gave speeches at the rally in Hope Square.

Labour’s Mr Knight said he hopes he and Ed Miliband, previously the energy and climate change minister, will be able to force W4B to prove the sustainability of the fuel before getting any subsidy.

Lib-Dem Mrs Kayes said: “This was in Weymouth as the people of Weymouth have not been aware of this issue as much as people on Portland. They may feel it doesn’t affect them as much.”

Green Party candidate Mr Heatley took the chance to criticise the Conservative councillors who voted for the plant to go ahead at Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.

But Tory candidate Richard Drax, who did not attend the rally, said renewable plants such as this were Labour Party policy and the council planners were restricted by rules imposed upon them because they have a ‘quasi-judicial’ role, not a political one.