POLICE have heightened their presence at Hinkley Point today after activists threatened to shut down the power station.

A group called the Direct Action Protest Team sent out a message on a media website threatening “non violent direct action” against EDF Energy.

The group said its activists would stage lock down protests at the power station every Wednesday, starting today at 10am.

Nikki Clarke, a member of a separate anti-nuclear organisation Stop Hinkley, visited the site this morning after hearing about the warning and said she saw police vehicles in Stogursey, outside the power station and on surrounding footpaths.

She added: “It is hard to put a figure on how many police vehicles are here because they are all scattered around.

“There is no sign of any protestors but the message said they could come by land or sea.”

A police spokesman said: “There is a constant police presence at the power station which is proportionate to the level of threat.

“At the moment there is no sign of any protestors which we had received intelligence about and had resources prepared for.

“The number of resources is constantly being reviewed.”

EDF Energy says it is aware of the message but added there had been no protests today and the station is operating as normal.

A statement read: “EDF Energy places its highest priority on the safety and security of the public, its staff, buildings and installations.

“We maintain regular contact with the police and other appropriate agencies and regularly review and adjust our security procedures across our sites.

“For obvious reasons we can not discuss the detail of what security precautions we have in place.

“With respect to our nuclear sites in particular, we are in close contact with our security regulator, the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS).

“They are the independent body responsible for setting the level of security on our sites and we will continue to work with them and will act upon any instructions or recommendations.

“In order to maintain the highest standards of security, we do not discuss operational details, but like all civil nuclear facilities in the UK, we have detailed security arrangements in place.

“The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) are deployed at all EDF Energy’s nuclear sites to further enhance the already robust security arrangements at all civil nuclear power stations.

“Provision was made for this by the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act, 2001. These officers work alongside existing security teams at each station.”