The first of 13 polluted US ships due to be scrapped in Britain arrived this afternoon, adding a noisy environmental row to the storm of protest surrounding next week's visit by President George W. Bush.
Environmental campaigners descended on the northern English port of Hartlepool, giving a foretaste of massive demonstrations planned for London when Bush visits from next Wednesday.
"We don't want these ships in the UK," said Mr Mike Childs, UK campaigns director for environmental pressure groups Friends of the Earth.
"America has the capacity to deal with its own waste and the moral obligation to do so," he told Reuters. "This is a sorry mess created by the US administration's determination to get rid of these boats as quickly as possible and UK regulators' failure to carry our the proper checks andassessments," he added.
The decrepit former US Navy oil tanker Caloosahatcheewas the first to arrive of the so-called 'Ghost Ships,' a fleet of ancient vessels, some of which date back to World War II andwhich are contaminated with asbestos and other toxic chemicals.
They are due be scrapped by a British firm under a contract worth £10 million sterling ($16.7 million).
Three more are already on their way, while another nine are still waiting in the US for permission to sail. Local campaigners have persuaded Britain's Environment Agency to withdraw permission for the scrapping, leaving the fate of the ships up in the air.
The four that have already left the United States have been allowed to dock while the demolition firm, Able UK, contests the case in court.