Mayhem as ten Greenpeace activists abseil down from Scotland’s Forth Road Bridge ‘to protest Manchester United owner Jim Ratcliffe’

Ten Greenpeace activists abseiled down Scotland’s Forth Road Bridge to protest plastic plant owned by Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe. 

The group said it wanted to block an Ineos tanker carrying fracked gas to a plastics plant at Grangemouth.

The site is near Edinburgh and part of Ineos – a company owned by Sir Ratcliffe that produces virgin plastics.

The activists suspended themselves using ropes 25 metres from the water level at high tide and held banners saying, ‘Plastics Treaty Now’.

The stunt has already halted traffic but the group say they plan to stay in place for 24 hours – using hammocks to make themselves comfortable if they need to.

They also have a support team on the bridge itself and on the water. 

The protest comes ahead of Donald Trump’s visit to Scotland this weekend. 

Greenpeace spokeswoman Amy Cameron told The Telegraph: ‘The Global Plastics Treaty offers us a once-in-a-generation chance to tackle the problem for good, so it’s no surprise Ineos and its billionaire boss, Jim Ratcliffe, are doing everything they can to stop it.

Ten Greenpeace activists abseiled down Scotland’s Forth Road Bridge to protest plastic plant owned by Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe

The activists suspended themselves using ropes 25 metres from the water level at high tide and held banners saying, ‘Plastics Treaty Now’

‘Ratcliffe tries to distract us with sports teams and sponsorships, but we’re not going to let him fill our planet with plastic, so he can fill his pockets with profit.’

They said petrochemical companies like Ineos are blocking progress for an international agreement on plastics.

She added: ‘We are here today to say that if you’re going to try and block the plastics treaty, we’re going to block you.’

Ms Cameron said she expected the protest to be ‘safe and peaceful’, and precautions had been taken, adding: ‘From our perspective, we don’t think there’s any need for the police to be here.’

Asked about any disruption for travellers, she said: ‘It’s definitely not our intention to cause any disruption to any member of the public.

‘Our climbers have access to bridge via the pedestrian walkway, which is separated from the roads – which is separated from the roads.

‘So there was no need to close the road bridge, if that’s a decision that Police Scotland have taken, then that’s their decision.’

Police Scotland said they were alerted at 1.05pm and officers were ‘engaged with those involved’. The public were asked to avoid the area.

The bridge is one of three crossing the Firth of Forth in central Scotland which links Edinburgh to Fife.