AN ANTI-NUCLEAR campaigner is appearing in court today after taking part in a sit-down protest.

Andrew Gray, 33, from Newcastle, was charged with causing a breach of the peace when he sat in front of the gates at the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport, Scotland, last August.

He and fellow protestors timed their action to coincide with a shift change at the base, which stores Trident nuclear warheads.

Mr Gray is denying the charge and says he will put forward legal and moral arguments, and make a plea for a shift from making nuclear armaments to working for peace.

He said: "We need a properly-funded programme of defence diversification to safeguard skilled jobs in the defence and shipping industries and the huge supply chain."

Mr Gray polled two per cent of the vote when he stood as Green Party candidate in the Newcastle East and Wallsend seat at the General Election.