Greenpeace activists arrested after abseiling from bridge
The Forth Road Bridge outside Edinburgh was closed on Friday after the Greenpeace activists suspended themselves from the structure to block a tanker carrying fracked gas, which was heading for the Ineos petrochemical plant at nearby Grangemouth.
Police Scotland said it had been alerted to the protest shortly after 1pm on Friday.
The group suspended themselves from the bridge using ropes, ending up about 25 metres above the water level at high tide.
On Saturday morning Greenpeace announced it had ended the demonstration, saying it had 'achieved what we set out to'.
The campaign group said its demonstration had prevented the tanker from delivering the gas for a full 24 hours, as the vessel could only travel to Grangemouth during high tides.
Greenpeace said all 10 had descended safely and were voluntarily transported to Port Edgar in South Queensferry, where it said they were arrested by officers from Police Scotland on suspicion of culpable and reckless conduct.
Police Scotland confirmed that five men, aged between 35 and 40, and five women, aged between 25 and 42, had been arrested.
The force added that further inquiries were ongoing, and that the Forth Road Bridge remained closed to traffic as of Saturday morning.
After the demonstration ended, Amy Cameron, programme director at Greenpeace UK said: 'We've achieved what we set out to.
'By blocking Ineos, we've drawn global attention to the company's bottomless appetite for plastic production, false solutions and profit for its billionaire boss Jim Ratcliffe.'
Plastic production set to triple
Describing the 'plastic pollution problem' as being 'massive', she added: 'Less than 10 per cent of plastic is currently recycled globally, and this is set to rise to just 17 per cent by 2060, while the amount of plastic we're producing is set to triple.
'The only solution is to address the problem at source which means securing a strong global plastics treaty that imposes legally-binding caps on plastic production.'
Ms Cameron continued: 'Ineos are cutting jobs at Grangemouth while trying to open a massive new plastics plant in Belgium, leaving Scottish workers high and dry.
'If Jim Ratcliffe really cared about skilled jobs in Scotland he'd invest his billions in supporting his workers to transition into the green industries of the future, instead of throwing money at Formula 1 racing teams and football clubs.'
Greenpeace insists its protest was safe and caused 'minimal disruption' – stressing that the climbers had spent weeks training for the demonstration, also pointing out that the Forth Road Bridge carries low volumes of bus, cycle and pedestrian traffic.
An Ineos spokesman said the stunt was 'dangerous, disruptive and entirely counterproductive'.
It added: 'Ineos is one of the few companies investing in solutions: advanced recycling, circular design, and low-carbon feedstocks. We are building real infrastructure, not hanging banners off bridges.
'If Greenpeace truly cared about outcomes, they'd stop targeting the companies delivering change and start supporting serious policy reform on waste collection and global recycling standards.'
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