South Lanarkshire Council copyright threat

However, the council told the Gazette this week that the threat had never related to the article; it in fact related to a distorted version of the council's logo used on Douglas Community Council's website.

The latest confrontation comes against the controversial background of opencast mining in the Douglas Valley.

It involves an article and a logo appearing after liaison meetings were held over the Poniel and Mainshill Opencasts.

The council wrote to Douglas Community Council — and to individual members of the local group — about the website's contents.

Members were surprised by the action, especially as the article could still be found at its original source, the Coal Action Scotland website.

Douglas Community Council had reposted it, on its own site, with a link to the Action Group website — which is where the material originated from.

However, South Lanarkshire Council said that the threat of action had not been about the article, but about a logo which accompanied it.

The image showed the council's logo superimposed with that of Scottish Coal.

For more information on this story, pick up a copy of this week's Carluke and Lanark Gazette which is in the shops now.