Police Start Clearing Protest Camp Away From Tesla's Berlin Plant

Police are clearing a camp of protesters opposing an expansion of Tesla’s Berlin factory that would see a huge swathe of forest being leveled.

The camp near the automaker’s production plant in Grueneheide is being cleared by police citing several violations of assembly regulations, including resisting a police operation, with the result that security could no longer be guaranteed, Reuters reports.

The protest group, Disrupt Tesla, argues that plans to double the size of the factory will damage the environment.

In a social media post, the group calls for mass protests against the expansion, saying it opposes “the destruction by Tesla and Elon Musk to protect forests and water.”

A number of protest groups have been waging a battle to save the trees under threat of destruction to make way for the size of the factory’s footprint to be doubled.

Protesters clashed with police in May when some attempted to storm Tesla's only European gigafactory, which employs about 12,000 workers.

In the past, protesters have also disrupted the surrounding area by blocking a nearby motorway and interrupting rail service by sitting on the tracks.