A 'GUERRILLA' poster campaign against plans for a quarry near Moors Valley Country Park has been removed. 

A total of 147 posters placed by affiliates of Ringwood activist group, Friends of Ringwood Forest (FORF), were removed on February 25. 

Put up to fight the ongoing consultation by Hampshire County Council (HCC) which discusses plans to build a quarry on the park's border, FORF has been left annoyed by the removal.

FORF secretary, Britt Poyntz, said: "The fact is that we shouldn't perhaps be, what could be called, littering the park without permission. But on the other hand, it's what campaign teams do.

"It's guerrilla postering and the thing that has surprised all of us is that no one from Moors Valley Country Park management team has contacted the campaign team. We're not hiding, they weren't anonymous posters."

The posters were spread across the park to direct peoples' attentions to HCC's consultation and listed the ways to find out more, including a QR code to a website. 

FORF have been large advocates against the plans for a quarry, creating a campaign called No2PurpleHaze. 

Britt said: "We as a team are disappointed and local people are disappointed. If anyone had contacted us, we would have confirmed that with the closing date of the consultation being March 5, our plan was to always remove them immediately after. 

"We're not forcing anyone to read the posters and take action, they simply say no quarry. We've said nothing inflammatory, they're just informative. "

Moors Valley Country Park is managed by both Dorset Council and Forestry England. 

Forestry England has said any signage, regardless of the message, will be removed. 

A spokesperson for Forestry England said: "Moors Valley Country Park and Forest is an amazing natural space, home to a wide range of wildlife, plants and adventurous play.

"To help keep it this way we do not permit any external advertising including requests to put up posters or share leaflets.

"This helps us control litter, make sure our facilities are safe, and ensure visitors can connect with this natural space. Regardless of the content, any posters or signage put up without our authorisation will be removed."