Protesters have taken part in a 'mass trespass' at Stonehenge to oppose plans to dig a tunnel near the monument. The group, made up of local residents, ecologists, activists, archaeologists and pagans, gathered at the Wiltshire site at about 12:00 GMT on Saturday December 5th, 2020.
     Transport Secretary Grant Shapps approved the UK£1.7bn scheme against the recommendations of planning officials and English Heritage closed the site until Sunday and said it was an offence to enter without permission.
     Campaigners are worried that the work will have a detrimental impact on the wider Stonehenge world heritage site. They said they gathered in support of Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site, which has launched a legal challenge against Mr Shapps' decision.
Environmental activist Dan Hooper, known as Swampy, said: "This is the coming together of people who are saying we have had enough. The Stonehenge tunnel is just one scheme in a UK£27bn roads programme. As road transport is the single largest source of carbon emissions in the UK, this is insane. We need to put a stop to these road schemes as we did before."
     In a statement issued on Saturday evening, Wiltshire Police said no arrests had been made and the event had 'passed peacefully'. A spokeswoman for English Heritage said: "It is an offence under the Ancient Monuments Act for people to enter the monument area without English Heritage's permission. Whilst we respect people's right to demonstrate peacefully, we do not condone behaviour that disrupts and endangers the site and the people who visit or work here."
     Highways England said its plan for the two-mile (3.2km) tunnel will remove the sight and sound of traffic passing the site, and cut journey times. However, Unesco previously said the scheme would have an 'adverse impact' on the surrounding landscape.

Edited from BBC News (5 December 2020)