PEOPLE opposed to plans to build a huge container terminal at Dibden Bay took their protest to the applicant's annual meeting in London yesterday.

Placard-waving demonstrators from Friends of the Earth (FoE) gathered outside a hotel as Associated British Ports (ABP) held its yearly discussion with shareholders.

People arriving at the meeting were handed leaflets that criticised the Dibden Bay scheme and cast doubt on its financial viability.

Some of the protesters had shares in ABP, which entitled them to attend the meeting and ask questions about the proposed new port.

One of the questions was put by FoE director Charles Secrett, who claimed that investors would do well to put their money into other projects.

The FoE leaflets said: "Your investment may be at risk if ABP's proposal to build a port in the New Forest goes ahead.

"The project is environmentally and financially unsustainable. Dibden Bay itself is now being designated a site of special scientific interest, which makes ABP's proposed port the most damaging project after Heathrow's Terminal 5."

The meeting coincided with the resumption of the public inquiry into the Dibden Bay scheme.

FoE spokeswoman Brenda Pollack said: "When ABP was questioned about wildlife they just hedged and said it was being dealt with at the inquiry.

"One of our main aims was to show that Dibden Bay is a national issue, not just a local one.

"ABP brochures talk about the expansion of the Port of Southampton but don't make it clear that the site is on the edge of the New Forest.

An ABP spokesman said it was widely accepted that the UK would need new container-handling capacity to handle the predicted growth in the trade.

The spokesman insisted that the public inquiry was the best place to debate any concerns surrounding the Dibden Bay project.