On the 24th February, Greenpeace volunteers and anti-war campaigners protested at and shut down up to 120 Esso petrol stations as well as blocking the entrance to the companies UK headquarters. The direct actions occurred as small mobile teams closed down Esso petrol stations from Hampshire to Yorkshire, Wales to Norfolk, with many towns and cities affected. Petrol pumps were disabled and in some areas protestors locked themselves together and refused to move.

Greenpeace UK says the oil giant Esso campaigns to keep the US hooked on oil, fuelling war and causing global warming and has funded front groups that are aggressively advocating an attack on Iraq (see greenpeace esso pdf report). Read full report.