Wimbledon Chase BP targeted by Greenpeace

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Petrol station is the first to be affected by protest

Greenpeace activists claim to have disabled every BP petrol station in London, with the Wimbledon Chase garage being the first targeted.

The co-ordinated campaign started at dawn today and within a matter of hours, Greenpeace claim to have closed down 46 garages in the capital.

But BP say only 12 were actually forced to close, and they would be re-opened as soon as it was safe to do so.

The protests coincided with BP's second-quarter results where the oil company reported a $17 billion loss and it confirmed Chief Executive Tony Hayward would be standing down.

Greenpeace and BP said activists stopped the flow of fuel by flipping safety switches on forecourts before removing them to prevent the service stations from reopening.

The Wimbledon Chase BP Connect garage on Kingston Road was targeted at dawn by a group of Greenpeace activists called "Team Skimmers". Afterwards they put up a campaigning notice on a street sign next to the garage.

They stated on the Greenpeace website (where there is also an adapted BP logo - above): "The Skimmers are off! First station shut down! - Second station disabled and notices up! Still feeling sleepy but not half as asleep as the petrol stations we shut down. Plenty more where that came from!"

BP described the protest as "an irresponsible and childish act which is interfering with safety systems." The Wimbledon Chase garage has since re-opened.

July 28, 2010