A NUMBER of climate protesters who blockaded an oil terminal have been arrested, police have said.
Just Stop Oil said its supporters blocked access to the Nustar Clydebank facility in West Dunbartonshire by climbing on top of tankers and locking on to the entrance at about 4am on Tuesday.
The activists said they are taking action in support of their demand that the UK Government ends new oil and gas projects in the UK.
Chief Superintendent Lynn Ratcliff said on Tuesday evening protesters were asked to leave and that a “number of people who decided not to cooperate have subsequently been arrested”.
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Ratcliff said: “Officers have been liaising with protesters at Rothesay Dock in Clydebank since 4.10am on Tuesday, 3 May, 2022 in order to facilitate peaceful protest.
“As a rights-based organisation, Police Scotland puts our values of integrity, fairness, respect and a commitment to upholding human rights at the heart of everything we do.
“This means that we will protect the rights of people who wish to peacefully protest or counter-protest, balanced against the rights of the wider community.
“We have considered the impact of the protest in terms of health and safety within the site and the impact on the wider community and have asked the individuals involved to end their protest and allow a return to normality.
“The incident is currently ongoing and a number of people who decided not to cooperate have subsequently been arrested.”
It is not know how many people have been taken into police custody.
It is the first action its kind in Scotland since the Just Stop Oil coalition began blockading fuel terminals south of the border on April 1, which has seen more than 1,000 arrests.
Neil Rothnie, 69, a retired offshore oil and gas worker from Glasgow, earlier said: “North Sea oil and gas does not offer energy security. The North Sea oil and gas industry has one priority and it is not the climate crisis. It’s not the future of North Sea oil and gas workers.
“And it’s certainly not whether the poor can stay warm. If the Government was serious about a just transition, we would be seeing it here in Scotland.
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“Where are the turbine factories in Scotland? Where are the yards building platforms for offshore wind? Where are the projects to properly insulate our houses? When will we get free public transport?”
A UK Government spokesman said: “We will not bend to the will of activists who naively want to extinguish North Sea oil and gas production.
“Doing so would put energy security and British jobs at risk, and simply increases foreign imports, whilst not reducing demand.
“We are committed to a strong North Sea industry as we transition away from expensive fossil fuels over the coming decades, and our recent British Energy Security Strategy sets out a long-term plan to ramp up cheap renewables and nuclear energy.”
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