Northampton: Four arrests at Extinction Rebellion Barclaycard HQ protest

Extinction Rebellion protestors climbed on to the roof of the Barclaycard headquarters in Northampton

Four arrests have been made after Extinction Rebellion protestors climbed on to the roof of Barclaycard's Northampton headquarters.

Eighteen people staged the protest, which also saw them occupy the foyer of the building in Pavillion Drive.

One participant, Lucy Porter, said Barclays was "making an eye-watering amount of money financing companies who are destroying our environment".

A Barclays spokesperson said the bank was scaling up green financing.

Northamptonshire Police confirmed officers were called to the Barclaycard building at 11:00 GMT following reports of a protest.

Extinction Rebellion said Barclays is financing fossil-fuel companies

Protestors dressed as bankers stood outside the building holding banners reading "Stop Funding Fossil Fuels" and "Better Without Barclays".

Extinction Rebellion members also used fake oil, made from water, black food dye and organic thickener, to spray the inside and outside of the building.

They said that while Barclays had pledged to reach net zero in carbon emissions by 2050 in line with the Paris Climate Agreement and promised to spend an average of £8.3bn per year on green finance up to 2030, it had spent more than double that amount funding fossil fuel companies in the four years since the agreement was signed.

Ms Porter, a 47-year-old teacher from Leeds, said: "Barclays are making an eye watering amount of money financing companies who are destroying our environment."

Fellow protestor, Dr Rob Galvin from Birmingham, said: "If the UK banking sector was a country, it would be the world's ninth biggest polluter.

"That's horrifying."

Ian Atkinson, 52, a forester from Evesham, added: "If customers want to stop the climate crisis one really easy thing they can do is change their bank."

A Barclays spokesperson said the bank was "aligning our entire financing portfolio to support the goals of the Paris Agreement - significantly scaling up green financing, directly investing in new green technologies and helping clients in key sectors change their business models to reduce their climate change impact."

Protesters also occupied the foyer of Barclaycard in Northampton

The bank said that by 2025 it would have reduced the emissions intensity of its power portfolio by 30%, and absolute emissions of its energy portfolio by 15%.

The spokesperson added that Barclays had "already facilitated £46bn of green finance" and is investing £175m into green start-ups.