A protestor who lay in the road with his hands in concrete outside a local refinery has been fined.

Paul Hanlon, of Canal Side, Aberdulais, did not appear at his hearing at Haverfordwest magistrates court on Tuesday, October 29, but entered a written guilty plea to wilfully obstructing a highway.

The court heard that Hanlon, 49, along with five others already fined by the court, obstructed the east gate entrance to Valero oil refinery, Pembroke, as part of an Extinction Rebellion protest on September 19.

Vaughan Pritchard-Jones, prosecuting, said the group arrived outside the refinery with three blocks of concrete, which they appeared to have poured themselves.

The protestors placed their hands into the blocks and held onto a pipe in the centre, remaining in the road for 12 hours.

Mr Pritchard-Jones said: “The refinery management had to make two holes in the hedge, to make a temporary roadway across the field to allow tankers access to the refinery.”

He added: “I don’t now why the police did not just drag them off because they had the powers to do so.”

Magistrates fined Hanlon £40 and ordered him to pay £117 in costs and a surcharge.