A GROUP of Calstock residents and members of Tavistock Peace Action Group last week declared Drake's Island in Plymouth Sound a nuclear-free zone, as they set up a squat on the 6.5-acre site. The 12, members of the Trident Ploughshares group, arrived on the privately-owned island by boat from Calstock on Friday and set up camp in empty buildings. They put up large protest banners declaring their opposition to the Trident nuclear weapons programme and said they hoped to maintain their peaceful anti-nuclear process for as long as possible. Shipwright Sam Bouquet of Calstock, who was accompanied by his father, Peter, said the group not only felt ?very strongly? about nuclear weapons, it was also concerned at discharges of tritium into the River Tamar. ?Tritium is like a heavy metal, it doesn?t wash away and the rate of cancer and leukaemia in this area is climbing higher than at Sellafield,? he said. Michal Lovejoy, who is also a Calstock resident, said she hoped the group?s squat on the island would raise awareness of the Trident submarines in Plymouth and the nuclear dangers that existed in a heavily populated area. Mr Lovejoy said it was time the UK started disarming its nuclear capabilities and the group hoped its small protest would make people think more about nuclear dangers in the light of the forthcoming review of the non-proliferation treaty. Police confirmed they had been told about the squat by MoD police at around 1pm last Friday. A spokesman for the force said: ?This land was sold by the MoD to a private landowner some time ago, and is therefore under the jurisidiction of this force. ?Action can only be taken should the landowner require it. However, at this stage, this force has received no such complaint.? Having endured cold wet weather conditions over the weekend, the group were still on the island as the Times went to press this week.