Environmentalists have struck a major blow against iGas's attempts to drill for shale gas at the Barton Moss site, with a judge making what appears to be a quite extraordinary ruling in their favour.
Prosecutors accepted at Manchester Magistrates Court that charges of obstructing a highway against the protesters should be dropped after Judge Khalid Qureshi ruled that Barton Moss Road is a public footpath.
Here are two pictures of Barton Moss Road, taken from just outside the iGas site, looking in opposite directions. In the middle is the map.
It sure looks like a road to me.
Perhaps someone can advise how the judge can make such a ruling? Is there something in the legal definition of a footpath that can explalin how the judge could reach this conclusion?
I must say, I don't get a warm feeling about this.