Residents protest against power plant in Haimen, China

Residents of Haimen, furious with plans to build a coal-fired power plant, took to the streets, surrounded a government building and blocked an expressway.

Officials agreed to suspend the project this week, but residents refused to back down, demanding the plan be scrapped, reports Reuters.

Outside a large and closed petrol station near a highway into Haimen, about 100 men on motorbikes watched a wall of riot police armed with batons and shields, blocking the highway.

"What place in the world builds two power plants within one kilometre?" said one of the Haimen residents, who was surnamed Cai, as he watched the riot police.

"The factories are hazardous to our health. Our fish are dying and there are so many people who've got cancer , " he added.