A protester who chained himself to railings at Bath Spa railway station in protest at the removal of a ramp has been arrested for trespass.

Legal campaigner Carlo Ambrosino, of Larkhall, argues that planning consent for the demolition of the station ramp to make way for new restaurants has run out.

On Thursday, he chained himself to the gates outside the construction site – although work was able to go on around him.

The following day, he returned to keep up his protest over Bath and North East Somerset Council’s handling of the planning consent for the scheme, but was arrested at lunchtime by British Transport Police.

He was arrested for trespass on the railway and bailed to appear at Bath police station on February 10.

The work was last approved in 2006, with the first condition being that work should begin within three years.

Mr Ambrosino, who has fought legal battles over Churchill House and the Bath Transportation Package, said people had been supportive of his one-man protest.

He said: “People have been very, very understanding.”

He said he was keen to honour the memory of Victorian engineering pioneer Brunel, who designed the station.

“I respect the memory of somebody who played a key part in developing the infrastructure in this country in the 19th century.

“I respect his memory above all else and if we can’t respect that then it doesn’t speak very highly of us in this World Heritage city.”

The council today insisted that the work on the ramp - the final stage of the £360 million SouthGate development - was entirely legitimate and above board.

But Mr Ambrosino’s argument is echoed by the pressure group Bath Heritage Watchdog.

Spokesman Jim Warren said: “The demolition of the ramp is illegal whichever way you look at it.

“Either in 2009 the permission expired and a completely new application is now needed (which is my view). No doubt to save face the council will argue somehow that it has not expired, but even if they do, they cannot deny that conditions were set that said “No work shall start until ...” and those conditions are not yet met, so no work should be taking place, and the council is being derelict in its duty to stop it.”

In a statement, the council said: “The works to the railway station including the demolition and removal of its associated access ramp were permitted by Bath and North East Somerset Council as an integral part of the wide-ranging permissions for the entire SouthGate redevelopment scheme.

“The council as local planning authority is satisfied that the works to the railway station, including the removal of the ramp access on the northern side, are fully authorised, and that the relevant permissions have not expired.”

The authority granted full planning permission in September 2003, with a condition that work began within five years.

It says this happened and, even though work on the lift and ramp did not begin until last year, earlier preparatory work counted as the start.

The council added: “Once any part of the approved development has been implemented, then Condition 1 (which set the five-year deadline) has been complied with and the permission then remains in force in perpetuity.

“The fact that the development has been implemented on a phased basis is of no significance, and the entire development remains lawful.”

Separate listed building consent was given in June 2002 and the council originally stipulated that work should start within five years. But in August 2006, it amended the planning permission to give the developer another three years.

Again, the council says that work had started before the three years were up.

Asked which work was being treated as the start of the implementation of the planning permissions, the council said that the two consents both covered the railway station, the bus station and the whole of the SouthGate retail development.

It said that the demolition of old buildings and the excavation of a hole for the shopping centre's underground car park would have been the trigger for the planning permission, and the removal of phone boxes in Dorchester Street in 2007 that for the listed building consent.

A spokesman said: "All these early works pre-dated the work on the railway station by a considerable period, but formed integral parts of the same overall permissions as the later works to the railway station. From those early implementations onwards, the permissions had been secured and did not subsequently expire as suggested by Mr Ambrosino."

The listed building consent has several other conditions attached to it, specifying agreements that needed to be in place before work could start. These conditions are officially still active because although the agreements have been finalised, the council cannot formally sign them off until aspects of the work have been completed and it is happy Multi has kept its promises.

The removal of the ramp has been controversial because of arguments over whether a lift which has replaced it will be big enough.

The £12 million Vaults scheme will create up to seven new restaurants, scheduled to be open for business by September.

The cost of developer Multi’s scheme also includes improvements to the station itself, where a new entrance system has been introduced as well as the new lift.