Activists from Frensham and Waverley borough have sent a strong message to a global advertising giant with an anti-fossil fuel demo in London.

Members of the Extinction Rebellion Waverley and Borders group were among the protestors which recently occupied the lobby of WPP’s South Bank HQ.

They also draped a 15-metre “WPP are climate criminals: ban fossil fuel advertising” over the embankment in calling for the firm to cut its ties with Big Oil.

Local activists – who have joined the newly independent climate campaign group, Cut The Ties to Fossil Fuels – have also sent a similar message to the government in calling for a ban on fossil fuel advertising.

The protest included an appearance by the Oil Slickers street theatre group and the installation of a grim reaper sitting atop a steel oil rig in front of the HQ.

Some protesters staged a “die-in” in a message that WPP’s promotion of fossil fuels makes them complicit in a climate and ecological crisis.

The firm is the world’s largest advertising agency group while its clients include BP, ConocoPhillips, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Saudi Aramco, TotalEnergies, Shell and more.

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” said Clive Teague of XR Waverley & Borders.

“WPP could stop being the industry’s dinosaur and join Clean Creatives, a fast growing movement of over 1,000 advertisers, PR professionals and their clients, who are cutting their ties with the fossil fuel industry and truly committing to a sustainable future.”

Godalming officer worker Suzanne Everest said: “We spent around three hours in their lobby holding up banners and talking with staff about their employer’s involvement in promoting fossil fuel use.

“Almost all staff were deeply uncomfortable about this link to fossil fuels, they want their employer to stop representing fossil fuel companies and stop promoting the very products that are causing climate breakdown.”