April 9 (UPI) -- About 2,500 French police forcefully evicted hundreds of environmental activists on Monday from a site near the city of Nantes where a new airport had been planned.
Earlier this year, the French government dropped 40-year-old plans to build the airport on land near Notre-Dame-des-Landes, saying it will return the land to former owners. Demonstrators, some of whom have camped illegally there for years, continued the protest to ensure the land will be used in an ecologically positive manner.