Perthshire Advertiser

Police on hunt for activists who shut down bank

- RACHEL AMERY

Police officers in Perth are hunting for four environmen­tal activists after a Perth bank was shut down earlier this week.

Barclays on High Street was sealed off on Monday, March 2 after a group saying they were acting on behalf of Greenpeace, disabled the front doors and printed‘Barclays: stop funding the climate emergency’on the pavement outside.

A total of six Scottish branches were targeted on Monday, with Greenpeace calling on the bank to stop funding fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, and instead channel their investment­s into renewable energy.

Greenpeace also claimed Barclays was the biggest funder of fossil fuels of all European banks.

However, Police Scotland has since said these are“criminal acts of vandalism”and say four people were seen to be responsibl­e.

Officers have now issued a public appeal for more informatio­n to help them track down the activists.

A spokespers­on for Police Scotland’s Tayside division said:“Four individual­s, all described as around 6ft in height and wearing orange high-visibility jackets, were seen to be responsibl­e.

“Whatever the claimed cause of those responsibl­e, these are criminal acts of vandalism which have prevented members of the public from accessing their bank services and going about their daily personal business.”

Officers are now appealing for members of the public who have more informatio­n to come forward and help them with their enquiries.

The spokespers­on added:“If you have any informatio­n that could assist our enquiries, please call 101 or speak with any police officer.

“Also, informatio­n can be given anonymousl­y through Crimestopp­ers on 0800 555 111.

“Our reference is 0622 of March 2.”

 ??  ?? Sealed off The Barclays bank main entrance on Monday
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Sealed off The Barclays bank main entrance on Monday 020320Barc­laysBank_02

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