As part of the international 'Keep Space for Peace Week' to protest against the use of weapons in space and the US government's plans to further develop the Missile Defence or 'Star Wars' system, protesters, including veteran campaigners Helen John and Sylvia Boyes, decided to act to make drivers passing the base aware of the role Britain is playing in a new era of global warfare.

Sarah Cartin, Development Worker for the Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) said;

'Most people driving past this base, quite rightly assume it is a blot on the landscape, but we are here today to make them aware it is a very deadly blot. Fylingdales helps the US war agenda that has overseen the devastation of Iraq. The base has been upgraded to play a crucial role in the US National Missile Defence programme - without any Parliamentary accountability, ensuring that Britain is playing a complicit role in any future US-led wars.'

Helen John, 70, and Sylvia Boyes, 64, were among ten peace campaigners at the radar station on the North Yorkshire moors.

The spontaneous demonstration was part of the international Keep Space for Peace Week to protest against the use of weapons in space and the US government's plans to further develop the Missile Defence or Star Wars' system.

The protesters were to make drivers passing the base aware of the role Britain is playing in a new era of global warfare.

Sarah Cartin, development worker for the Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), said: "Most people driving past this base quite rightly assume it is a blot on the landscape, but we are here today to make them aware it is a very deadly blot."

Lavinia Crossley, a protester involved in the event said; "Yesterday Helen John and Sylvia Boyes were found guilty of entering Menwith Hill under the SOCPA anti-terror legislation. It seems clear to me that UK law is being used to defend US military and economic interests, so I am here to add to the growing opposition to US bases operating in Britain for the purposes of war and conflict."

Yesterday Helen John and Sylvia Boyes became the first people to be convicted under new terror legislation. In a test case both women were charged with trespass at Menwith Hill, between Skipton and Harrogate, on April 1 last year.

Their arrests were made under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act. Both John and Boyes were conditionally discharged for three months and ordered to pay £50 costs. The campaigners have lodged an appeal against their sentence.