A GREENPEACE protestor has given herself up after being chained to machinery at a Kent Power plant for nearly 11 hours.

The campaigner freed herself from the chains at around 3.50pm on Monday and was immediately arrested by police at the scene.

The woman, whose details have not yet been released, has been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass.

It is the first arrest since up to 50 protestors broke into Kingsnorth Power Station at 5am on Monday morning.

The action is the latest part of a campaign against plans to build the UK's first coal fire station in 20 years. Medway Council is considering the proposal, but Prime Minister Gordon Brown is likely to have the final say.

The arrested woman was one of 15 members of Greenpeace who immobilised the conveyor belts providing coal to the plant and chained themselves to the machinery.

A further barricaded themselves inside an oil store room while six others were set to abseil down the side of the smoke tower and paint the words "Gordon Bin It."

The protestors reached the top of the tower at around 2pm and are expected to begin their descent this evening.

Earlier today a spokesman for the group said they had enough supplies to continue the protest for up to three days.

Greenpeace says it fears the Government is about to give the green light to the project, despite more than 13,000 objections lodged with Medway Council.

They estimate the new facility will pump out millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases every year for decades and open the door to new coal fired power stations across the country.

Ben Stewart, from Lyminge, near Folkestone, is among the protestors occupying the 200m smokestack. He said: "Global warming is the greatest issue we face as a nation.

E.ON insists its proposed new coal units will be cleaner than the current ones with "state-of-the-art technology" reducing carbon emissions.

A spokesman said: "These protestors are hugely irresponsible. By breaking into a working power station they are putting their lives at risk and the lives of others too.

"We will be conducting a full investigation into how they broke into the plant."