OBJECTORS to plans for open-cast mining on the moors above Bacup are to march from Todmorden to the proposed site to highlight their protest.

Demonstrators will march through the town centre and on to the moors to protest against plans to extract 242,000 tonnes of coal and 398,000 tonnes of clay from Heald Moor.

Last Easter, objectors completed a similar march and supporters included the Civic Trust, Cliviger Parish Council and Burnley MP Peter Pike.

They say the proposed mineral workings will contaminate the headwaters of the Rivers Calder and Irwell, worsen problems of landslides and flooding, harm wildlife, increase lorry traffic and lead to more than 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions as well as leaving a permanent scar on the landscape.

The walk will also mark the opening of a tree responsibilty site at Midgelden Wood where volunteers have planted more than 10,000 trees .

Those opposed to the mine say the area should be redesignated as a priority area for ecological restoration and to be safeguarded against mining applications in the future.

The scheme, which they describe as 'environmentally destructive,' is the idea of Cobex Ltd of Wakefield.

An alternative plan put forward by campaigners is the ecological restoration of the Pennine watershed between Yorkshire and Lancashire -- the site of the proposed mine.

Walk organiser Penny Eastwood said: "Our aim is to repair this damage, making it once again an area of outstanding natural beauty, with clear streams, wooded hillsides to prevent flooding and erosion and a clean and unlittered environment for people and wildlife.

"It is a ludicrous idea to build an open-cast mine on top of a watershed."

A decision from Lancashire County Council on whether the mine should be allowed to go ahead is expected in November.