Battle lines are drawn up down in Titnore Woods

Sitting on a ragged collection of old armchairs, plastic garden seats and wooden benches, they strum chords on guitars or roll cigarettes as they wait for breakfast.

From their hips dangle buckles and chains ready to lock their limbs to the tree trunks or hoist them high into the branches should the warning signal come.

For these protesters have vowed to make their bodies the last barrier between the builders' bulldozers and the trees of Titnore Woods.

For three-and-a-half months the battlelines have been drawn at the West Durrington beauty spot, between the eco-warriors who have made their homes in the trees and the developers bidding to build a road to 875 new homes in their place.

A tunnel complex, lookout system and tree platforms are now in place as the campaigners wait for an attempt to move them on.

Since protesters set up camp on May 28, landowners Clem and Fitzroy Somerset have successfully sought a High Court order to evict them from the woods.

As yet, no eviction notice has been served, leaving the sides in a stalemate that could last several more months.

While there was no visible police presence in the area this week, The Argus became aware its visit to the camp was monitored by officers.

A consortium of three major developers won outline planning permission from Worthing Borough Council in June to build on 40 hectares of land east of Titnore Lane.

The proposed development would include 200 affordable homes - but the required road-widening would mean paving over the woods, which protesters say could date back 400 years.

Lorna, 21, has been living at the camp from the beginning. She got involved in the Protect Our Woodland campaign run by Worthing residents, which included street demonstrations and letter-writing.

The Titnore Woods protest is Lorna's first taste of "tree-sitting", the technique made famous by the Newbury bypass protests in the 1990s.

She told The Argus: "I have been learning as I go along. It was looking like it was at the stage where other forms of campaigning were running out. It was time for direct action.

"We wanted to make sure that we were camped here in time, we didn't want to leave it too late."

The protesters are to be found in two camps separated by an electrified barbedwire fence.

They have constructed a series of tunnels, to allow "moles" to hole themselves in underground and prevent the advance of the developers.

Above them, 20 makeshift platforms sit in the boughs of the trees, connected by 16 precarious walkways.

A 21-year-old male protester spelled out what would await bailiffs and police if they attempted to dismantle the camp.

He said: "It will result in people getting hurt just because the things that are set up in the trees are hazardous - but only if handled in the wrong way, not resulting from any direct action of our own.

"We have multiple underground tunnels, which could be a hazard to health if handled in the wrong way." He said the tree platforms would sustain protesters for four weeks, provided their inhabitants had enough food supplies and sheer will power.

The campaigners also plan to "lock on" to the trees to prevent them from being cut down.

This method of chaining themselves up is designed to leave developers unable to remove them without cutting off parts of their bodies into the bargain.

Many of the camp's inhabitants are not local residents shouting "Not in my back yard" but sympathetic environmental campaigners who are experienced in similar actions up and down the country.

Some have come from "Camp Bling" in Southend in Essex, scene of a protest against a new road on the site of a Saxon king's burial chamber.

Others are veterans of anti-nuclear missile protests at Faslane in Scotland and the Drax power station demonstrations at Leeds last month.

One 22-year-old protester, calling himself Pixie, said: "It's not just Titnore Woods, it's part of a wider campaign against development and roadbuilding on what are supposed to be greenbelt sites.

"It's all about money. There are plenty of houses in the country that are lying empty."

The campaigners aim to price the developers out of pursuing their plans by forcing the cost of security and policing to escalate.

Pixie said: "That's what we do, we cost the developers money."

Lorna, from Brighton, welcomed the support from outside the area.

She said: "People have come from all over the country. For some people it's more personal.

"Some people have been up here who used to play in these woods as children.

"But it's the same principle for everyone - people want to protect the green spaces we've got left."

Ashley, 22, of Worthing, said: "I don't spend every night here but I have been down here every day for the last week.

"Being down here is brilliant, it's so different from living downtown."

Fitzroy Somerset, speaking outside his home at Holt Farm, near Castle Goring, on Tuesday, criticised the protesters for their conduct at the site.

He said: "They're doing no good there, and the harm they're doing to the trees and the fences is quite substantial."

Mr Somerset made clear he intends to pursue the eviction of the protesters and sell the land for development.

He said: "We can't allow trespassing to go on indefinitely.

"If you squatted in the orchard then you'd be trespassing.

"But it's not my job to go up there with a shotgun."

He acknowledged the costs of taking on the protesters could mount but said he did not know how expensive the battle would prove.

He said: "I expect it will be expensive.

"I haven't had the bills so I don't know. Obviously going to court costs money."

Mr Somerset hinted the stand-off could continue for some time.

He said: "What we didn't want was to evict these 15 or 20 people and have another 15 move in next door.

"It would be rather fun to tell them the eviction was going to take place on Thursday morning and get them all going and not come.

"We're rather at a stalemate.

"Whether they'd last out the winter over there I don't know.

"It will be interesting to see how many of them will stick it out."