THIRTEEN environmental activists charged with aggravated trespass after blocking a Heathrow Airport runway last month are to appear in court today to enter their pleas.

A solidarity rally is to take place outside Uxbridge magistrates’ court from 8.30am in support of the campaigners who are part of anti-airport expansion group Plane Stupid.

Plane Stupid spokeswoman Kirsty Jones told the Star at the time that their action was in response to Prime Minister David Cameron’s backtrack on his 2010 promise not to add a third runway to Heathrow.

Protesters were arrested after cutting through a perimeter fence before dawn on July 13. Flights were delayed and 13 cancelled over the following three hours.

Three campaigners bolted their necks to a metal barricade with locks.

Officers struggled to separate others who were fixed in pairs by their arms with plastic tube and layers of wire mesh and duct tape.