UK climate protesters expressed their opposition to a proposed coal mine expansion in unusual fashion on February 13, by digging up a grass verge outside the Home Office in London, turning the small strip of green lawn into a pile of mud.

The action was led by the activist group Extinction Rebellion, who said it was aimed at preventing “the expansion of the Banks Mining Pont Valley open-cast coal site in Bradley, Durham.”

An application by Banks Mining to extract 500,000 tonnes of coal from its surface mine is being reviewed by the government, the BBC reported

Extinction Rebellion said Robert Jenrick, the local government minister, “holds the power to revoke planning permission for the expansion of the site.”

On February 12, Extinction Rebellion campaigners gathered outside the County Hall in Durham, the Northern Echo reported.

The paper said there was not yet a confirmed date by which any decision would be made. Credit: Extinction Rebellion via Storyful