Cops arrest 10 Greenpeace activists after Forth Road Bridge protest

Daily Record

3 days ago

The protesters suspended themselves from the bridge in an effort to stop a tanker.
Cops have arrested 10 Greenpeace activists after a high-profile protest where they suspended themselves from a bridge in order to halt a tanker carrying fracked gas.
The Forth Road Bridge outside of Edinburgh was closed yesterday, Friday July 25, after 10 Greenpeace protesters suspended themselves from the structure in order to block the tanker, which was headed for the Ineos petrochemical plant at nearby Grangemouth.
Cops confirmed this morning that five men, aged between 35 and 40, and five women, aged between 25 and 42, were arrested in connection with the incident.
Police Scotland said it had been alerted shortly after 1pm after the group suspended themselves from the bridge using ropes, ending up about 25 metres above the water level at high tide.
This morning Greenpeace announced it had ended the demonstration, saying they had "achieved what we set out to".
The campaign group claimed their stunt prevented the Ineos tanker from delivering the gas for a full 24 hours, saying that the vessel could only travel to Grangemouth during high tides.
As a result the specially trained activists began climbing down their ropes early on this morning.
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.
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."
Describing the"plastic pollution problem" as being "massive", she added: "Less than 10% of plastic is currently recycled globally, and this is set to rise to just 17% 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.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Ten people have been arrested following a protest on the Forth Road Bridge on Friday, 25 July, 2025.
"The protest was reported to police around 1.05pm.
"Five men, aged between 35 and 40, and five women, aged between 25 and 42, were arrested in connection and further enquiries are ongoing.
"The bridge remains closed at this time."