VANESSA REDGRAVE - REDGRAVE PROTESTS OVER ROMANIAN GOLD MINE

VANESSA REDGRAVE has slammed proposals to build an open-air gold mine in Romania over fears it will damage the environment. Speaking at a Romanian film festival at the weekend (10-11JUN06), the British actress insisted the project would have repercussions across the globe, as well as destroying half a city and displacing more than 2,000 residents. The HOWARDS END star said, "Saving this area is not only a local problem, it is a European problem and one of the entire world. "Our planet is dying and we have no right to destroy an ecosystem." She vowed to return to the threatened Rosia Montana region in the near future, and dedicated her festival award - presented in honour of her enduring career - to members of the Alburnus Maior association, which has been fighting against the plans of the Canadian Gabriel Resources firm for the mining venture. The association's president, EUGEN DAVID, insisted Redgrave "gives impetus to our project" and symbolically handed her a square-metre of land at the site.