In photos: Greenpeace take on The Shard

YESTERDAY, six female Greenpeace activists climbed all 72 floors of The Shard in central London, in protest at drilling in the Arctic. They chose The Shard because you can see the building from Shell’s head office, and it resembles a shard of ice.

And when they got to the top they…

A) Stuck a flag in it and claimed the building for Tibet

B) Signalled for help to the watching police helcopter

C) Marvelled at human ingenuity in building something so impressive on clay and sand

D) Unfurled a blue banner which was almost impossible to read

Hard cheese on Tibet. The answer is D. The protesters had planned to showcase a huge artwork of a polar bear. But it would take four hours to assemble. And polar bears hate heights.

It was already 6pm when they reached The Shard’s summit, and at 10pm it would be dark. Having started their climb at 4:20am, the women might also have go tired.

So they went with the blue sheet instead.

The six were then arrested by the Metropolitan Police “on suspicion of aggravated trespass”. They are Sabine Huyghe, Sandra Lamborn, Victoria Henry, Ali Garrigan, Wiola Smul and Liesbeth Dedden. They did not pay the £25-a-head pre-booked ticket fee to reach The View at the top, neither did they exit via the gift shop with a magnet.

They enjoyed the view for free and kept-fit at the same time. Other on the ground just stared up, also for free.