Seven protesters from environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion have used hammers and chisels to break windows at Barclays in Canary Wharf.

The women put stickers on the glass that read “In case of climate emergency break glass”, before damaging the windows at around 7am on Wednesday.

XR protest
Broken glass at the bank HQ (Joao Daniel Pereira/Extinction Rebellion/PA)

They then sat down and waited to be arrested.

The protesters, wearing patches on their clothes that read “Better broken windows than broken promises”, accuse Barclays of investing too much in fossil fuels.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were called at approximately 7.13am on Wednesday April 7 to reports of a demonstration outside a commercial premises in Churchill Place, Canary Wharf.

“Officers attended and found a number of windows had been damaged.

“Seven women were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and taken into custody at an east London police station.”

A Barclays spokesman said: “Extinction Rebellion are entitled to their view on capitalism and climate change, but we would ask that in expressing that view they stop short of behaviour which involves criminal damage to our facilities and puts people’s safety at risk.

“We have made a commitment to align our entire financing portfolio to the goals of the Paris Agreement, with specific targets and transparent reporting, on the way to achieving our ambition to be a net zero bank by 2050, and help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.”