Extinction Rebellion activists stage protest at Peterborough’s Amazon depot on Black Friday

A police cordon is in place at the Peterborough site as Amazon depots across the country have been targeted today (November 26) the busiest of the year for the distribution giant.

A group of climate campaigners gathered at Peterborough’s Amazon depot in Flaxley Road on Kingston Park early this morning and unfurled a banner which read:‘Infinite growth harms planet’.

The activist group nationally tweeted that it is blockading fulfilment centres at several sites across the UK, including Manchester, Bristol, Tilbury in Essex and Dartford in Kent.

The group posted a video of the blockade at Dartford where six protesters were filmed holding up a banner saying: “Black Friday exploits people and planet.”

Amazon’s largest UK warehouse in Fife was also among those being blockaded.

Extinction Rebellion’s (XR) Black Friday demonstration, with about 20 activists, started at 4am at that distribution centre in Dunfermline.

Protesters with “lock-ons” and placards have stopped lorries entering the site and some from leaving.

XR said all of Amazon’s UK distribution centres will be targeted.

An Amazon spokesperson said: “At Amazon, we take our responsibilities very seriously.

“That includes our commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040 - 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement - providing excellent pay and benefits in a safe and modern work environment, and supporting the tens of thousands of British small businesses who sell on our store.

“We know there is always more to do, and we’ll continue to invent and invest on behalf of our employees, customers, small businesses and communities in the UK.

“We’re proud to have invested £32bn in the UK since 2010, creating 10,000 new permanent jobs across the country this year alone, and generating a total UK tax contribution of £1.55bn in 2020.”