ENVIRONMENTAL protesters camped out at the extended Bar End park-and-ride site say their human rights are being threatened after they were fenced in.

Activists say they have been effectively hemmed in from all directions after makeshift fencing was erected around their entrenched position.

But county council bosses have defended their latest move by saying that it is vital while building work is being carried out on the site.

A new section of the car park was unveiled to the public yesterday and the old part has been closed while it is refurbished.

Fences had previously only been put up barring the campaigners' access to the new section of the site, but yesterday morning a new fence blocking their path to the old site was also erected.

Leading protester King Arthur Pendragon said: "They say it's for safety reasons as they carry out work on the old part of the site but what about our safety?"

King Arthur said seven people were in the sealed-off site which includes the network of tunnels and tree houses they have been holed up in for months.

Campaigners say triple fencing has been erected around them and they are worried about emergency access to the camp.

A council spokesperson said: "A new fence has been put up to keep everyone out while building work is carried out on the new site for health and safety reasons.

"The protesters do have an exit route via a path and they are actively trespassing on county council land."

The campaigners were quick to say they could not access the path in question. King Arthur said: "It is not a walkable path and the only way we could use it is if we scrambled up banks, which would be dangerous."

Yesterday he climbed to the top of a tripod to deliver a defiant battle cry to builders and construction staff.

They are situated on a vital access road between the recently closed St Catherine's View park and ride and the new 428-space extension.

Council bosses aim to have the site completed by January 15.

The scheme provoked outrage when the former meadowland was sacrificed to improve the city's chronic traffic problems.

The land had initially been handed to the people of Winchester as compensation when an existing meadow was demolished to make way for the extension to the M3 motorway in 1990.