CHARITY MINES BLASTED; EXCLUSIVE Peace group bid to get sea victims' cash boxes removed.

Byline: By KURT BAYER

PEACE campaigners are demanding that defused mines used as giant charity collection boxes be scrapped...because they were weapons of war.

The red and white mines - once used to protect ports from Nazi U-boats - have been used to help raise cash for the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society for decades.

But Jan Melichar of the Peace Pledge Union said: "In our minds, it's bizarre that an object specifically designed to destroy people is being used to collect money for good causes.

"It would be a good thing to remove them. These are objects that we don't really want in our lives."

Montrose Community Council are supporting a bid to have a SFMS collecting mine removed from the town's High Street.

Member Terry Wood said: "It is a weapon of mass destruction. Mines are a nasty business and have taken many military and civilian lives.

"It's an awful thing and needs to be moved from the High Street."

But Montrose SNP councillor Sandy West hit back: "To describe this mine as a weapon of mass destruction is a load of codswallop.

"The mine serves as a reminder of the effort by the local population during the war. It has sat there since the war and it is ridiculous to think of it as offensive to anyone.

"These protesters would be far better to direct their anger at Gordon Brown's weapons of mass destruction on the Clyde."

The SFMS, who own the military relic, say it is a visual reminder of the dangers faced by seamen in the darkest days of war.

Darryl White, who served 33 years as a coastguard in Montrose, said: "Across the UK there are many retired fishermen who served during the war, using their boats to look for and destroy enemy mines. And many merchant seamen risked their lives to bring in goods during the war years despite the threat from torpedoes, guns and mines.

"Some of them and their families now require assistance from the SFMS charity. Many depend on our grants to enable them to buy coal to heat their homes or to provide a little more joy at Christmas.

"We would ask that the public remember how much they owe for their wealth and freedom today and pop a few coppers in."

'It's bizarre these mines are being used'

Jan Melichar, peace campaigner

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CAPTION(S):

Every little helps: Schoolgirl Abby Birchall, nine, is happy to make a donation at Montrose mine; Collection point: Charity plaque on side of mine