Climate protesters arrested after gluing themselves to bank

guardian.co.uk | Two environmental activists who glued themselves to the front doors of a bank in London today have been arrested for a breach of the peace, police said.

A group of four protesters calling themselves Rising Tide held a banner outside the Royal Bank of Scotland reading: “RBS - cashing in on coal” and handed out leaflets.

The protest was part of the week-long camp for climate action, taking place outside Kingsnorth power station in Kent.

Protesters are campaigning against a new generation of coal-fired electricity plants.

The activists staged the demonstration at the entrance to the RBS oil and gas division to highlight the relationship between the financial sector, the fossil fuel industry and climate change.

In another protest, the Eon-sponsored Lego model of Kingsnorth power station at the Legoland Park in Windsor was “occupied” by tiny Lego eco-activists with a banner reading: “Stop climate change.”

The actions followed a series of protests yesterday when green campaigners blockaded a biofuel depot in Essex, unfurled banners at Gatwick airport and staged a “die-in” at the RBS headquarters by lying in a pool of oil outside the building.

Around 1,500 people have now converged on the climate camp site amid a heavy police presence to prepare for tomorrow’s day of mass action.

Protesters have planned an assault by land, water and air to “shut down” Kingsnorth.

One group of campaigners will lead a procession to the power station’s main gates, while another will reach it through undergrowth.

A third aims to make a secret air approach, while a fourth plans to stage a “great rebel raft regatta” despite moves by police to ban the flotilla on health and safety grounds.

Some politicians have expressed concerns over policing at the climate camp, which has been described as “heavyhanded” by protesters.

The Green party MEP for the south-east, Dr Caroline Lucas, the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, Norman Baker, and the Morley and Rothwell Labour MP, Colin Challen, have written to Kent police calling for action to resolve the “increasingly threatening confrontation”.

They said the escalating situation had been caused, in part, by “a disproportionate police response”.

The comments came as Kent police extended stop and search powers for officers policing the protests yesterday.

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