Glyndebourne opera disrupted by Just Stop Oil protest

Protesters let off a confetti bomb, blew an air horn and shouted, a spokeswoman for the opera house said

Three Just Stop Oil protesters disrupted a performance at Glyndebourne on Thursday, the opera house has said.

The protesters let off a confetti bomb, blew an air horn and started shouting during a show at the Sussex venue.

A Glyndebourne spokeswoman said the incident was reported to the police, but officers did not attend and no arrests were made.

The stage was cleared and ushers peacefully escorted the protesters from the theatre within a minute, she said.

The audience remained inside and was given regular updates.

A video posted on Twitter showed the protest greeted by booing and slow claps.

"We are very sorry to everyone whose visit to Glyndebourne was affected by the protest action today," the spokeswoman said on Thursday night.

"Our highest priority was the safety and security of everyone on site and we would like to thank our staff and performers, whose calm and professional response kept everyone safe and disruption to a minimum."

The disruption occurred at about 17:30 BST during a performance of Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites. The opera restarted after a delay of about 20 minutes.

In a statement, Just Stop Oil said it was "calling on everyone to get off the side lines and join in civil resistance against new oil, gas and coal".

Sussex Police said it received a report of a disturbance at the opera performance shortly before 17:30

"Three protesters were safely escorted from the venue by staff there," the force said.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact police.

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