A PROTESTER who was cleared of criminal damage has said he plans to go on campaigning - but protesters in the future will have to be careful if they resort to direct action.

Jim Ridout said after the unanimous verdicts by the jury of eight men and four women: "It's brilliant news. The jury saw us acting in the interests of the public at large.

"We're supposed to be living in a democracy but it's obvious the Government isn't listening.

"We did everything possible to stop these crop trials by petitions and trying to get in touch with the farm. But all our efforts fell on deaf ears.

"There's a huge body of scientific evidence which says that GM crops are dangerous.

"At times, this court trial has been very nerve-wracking and it's been particularly tough for my partner Helen to deal with. But this is a great victory for the anti-GM campaign."

The 26-year-old urged people to be cautious in carrying out GM crop destruction. "One reason our defence succeeded was that we'd tried lots of democratic means to highlight the problem," he added. "The destruction of the crop was very much a last attempt and resort.

"There was enough evidence presented to the jury to cast doubt on the safety of GM crops and the Government should think about the implications of their plan to commercialise some GM crops by 2003."

His co-accused Barbara Charvet said: "I feel very pleased with the verdicts because they can be so unpredictable. The jury made up its mind very quickly in our favour."