Two fathers in their 50s have occupied the rig at the Horse Hill oil site in Surrey this morning in protest at fossil extraction. See Drip or Drop report here

In a statement this morning, one of the activists, management consultant Lindsay Parking, 50, described operations at Horse Hill as “an act of colossal, short sighted stupidity”.

“I am here as a father to prove to myself and my children that we all have the power to challenges that which is wrong in the world.

“It simply requires clarity of thought and courage in action. Knowing that the world is burning and my children and all children will suffer, I cannot sit idly by.

“This small act will not reverse the carnage by itself, but it may add to the growing conviction among ordinary people that self-interest, avarice and destruction are not our natural condition.

“As a parent, at some point you come to the realisation that you must raise your children to be able to best navigate the world as they find it. You cannot protect them forever or create their environment as you would like it to be for them, just by wishing. We are all obliged to act to create the world we wish to see. This is about growing up.”