Nineteen climate change protesters were arrested after scores of eviction specialists and police moved in to evict them from a wood they have occupied for seven months.

At least 60 people secured themselves in treehouses, underground tunnels and makeshift tarpaulin cabins on the site of an opencast coalmine in Lanarkshire.

While many of those occupying Mainshill Wood, near Douglas, were veterans of previous climate change protests across Scotland and the UK, many villagers have hailed the group as local champions, saying they have risked their lives in freezing temperatures during their lengthy sit-in.

The row began in March 2009 when South Lanarkshire Council planning committee granted permission for Scottish Coal to mine about 1.7million tonnes at Mainshill, which it is claimed will create around 100 jobs.

The approval upset hundreds of local people concerned about the impact it would have on their health and the environment.

The eviction process, which began on Sunday, could take weeks to complete as demonstrators have hidden themselves all over the woodland on the 340-acre site.

The eviction team spent much of the day chasing the protesters up several trees and using specialist harnesses to catch the demonstrators, before being dragging them down using specialist harnesses.