FOUR women who dressed as bats and blocked the entrance to the Kirby Misperton fracking site last year have been sentenced at York Magistrates' Court.

Becky Bostock, Michelle Easton, Sue Gough and Louise Hammond were found guilty of obstruction of the highway.

Another charge - that of "besetting a place to compel the abstention of a lawful act", an offence under the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992 - was dropped before the hearing.

The action was carried out on September 25, 2017. The women dressed in 'Bat Girl' outfits and deployed concrete 'lock-on' devices at the gates of the so-called KM8 site.

They blockaded the site for a total of 12-and-a-half hours, closing it to works traffic and preventing deliveries.

The action was designed to draw attention to the concerns of the Friends of the Earth charity at the time about the possibility of protected bat species roosting at the site.

Sue Gough, a retired grandmother who lives in Little Barugh said: "I took this action because I was desperate to help prevent fracking from taking place and was determined that I would be one of the first people to take direct action at the site; I wanted to make a point.

"My intention was to exercise my rights of peaceful protest under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights (EHCR). I was exercising my rights of peaceful protest, but only as a last resort."

After the verdict Michelle Easton added: "I’m proud to be a Bat Girl; we stood for what was right and fair.

"We took action on behalf of the future generations of North Yorkshire and for those climate change will impact across the globe."

All four women were found guilty of obstruction of the highway. Ms Easton and Ms Gough were handed a conditional discharge for 12 months, plus costs of £150 and a £20 surcharge.

Ms Hammond was given a 24-month conditional discharge and costs of £100. Ms Bostock was given unconditional bail and will be sentenced on July 10.