WORK on Winchester's new park-and-ride scheme was halted for a second day running yesterday after fears of a health and safety breach by contractors.

Heavy machinery was said to be operating within yards of youngsters who had gathered at the site at Bar End to protest against Hampshire County Council's plans to concrete over the meadow to make way for more parking.

It was the second time the small group of protesters that have camped next to the site have managed to halt proceedings on the £2.46m scheme.

Mildren Construction Ltd, the contractors employed by HCC to carry out the six-month build, had moved onto the site on Monday to start work on building a compound to house portable buildings and other equipment.

However a group of up to 30 young protesters invaded the site on Monday afternoon and stopped the work by sitting on the heavy lifting machines and diggers.

Yesterday, as work got underway again, chairman of the Winchester Meadows Conservation Alliance, Keith Story, expressed fears about the work.

Mr Story said he witnessed the machines working while the young protesters were still on site and while the perimeter to the site was insecure, contrary to health and safety regulations.

He added that work only stopped following an approach to Winchester City Council engineer Steven Spender, who is overseeing the work and who ordered the machines to stop.

Mr Story said: "What alarmed me most was when I saw heavy equipment being operated on the site while the youngsters were still there.

"The work shouldn't have been proceeding at all because the fencing put up to ensure the site is secure wasn't up and the protesters were on the site. . .no one should have been using any machines."

However a spokesman for Winchester City Council said that the reason the fencing was down was because about 850m of it had been vandalised during the night.

A spokesman for the police confirmed that the protesters have now been issued with a notice warning them that their actions on the site had become illegal.