Oil firm goes to court over protest loss

OIL firm Cairn Energy is taking legal action against Greenpeace for disruption caused by activists at its oil rig west of Greenland.

The Edinburgh-based company is reported to be seeking 1.76m in a Netherlands court for every day protesters try to stop work at its Leiv Eiriksson drilling platform.

The move, which could bankrupt the environmental group, comes after the eviction of two protesters who had spent four days in a survival pod attached to the drilling platform.

Hannah McHardy and Luke Jones, both 25, had been trying to prevent the rig undertaking its summer exploration programme, but just before midnight on Wednesday were removed by Danish police.

A Cairn Energy spokeswoman said the company was there at the invitation of the Greenland government and the protesters had been removed for safety reasons.