Climate change campaigners have blockaded a biofuel depot in Essex

Climate change campaigners have blockaded a biofuel depot in protest against the destruction the fuels cause the environment.

The protesters said they were blocking fuel lorries from leaving or entering the Vopak depot in Thurrock, Essex.

Around eight people lay in the road with their arms in "lock-on tubes" to stop police removing them, while others unveiled a 35ft banner proclaiming a day of action against biofuels from the top of one of the site's containers.

The blockade is part of the week-long "climate camp" outside Kingsnorth power station in Kent, which is protesting against a new generation of coal-fired electricity plants.

The climate activists at Vopak are concerned about the impact that biofuels - petrol or diesel made from plant materials - are having on the environment.

While the fuels were originally seen as a greener alternative to fossil fuels, they have since been shown to cause deforestation and contribute to food price rises as land is switched to growing crops such as palm oil and maize.

The protesters said companies such as Greenergy and Tesco, who use the depot for biofuel supply, were driving food price rises, world hunger, ecosystem destruction and accelerated climate change.

Julia Brownlow, who is blocking lorries from entering or leaving the site, said: "Agrofuels are destroying the very ecosystems which can stabilise the climate - with the collapse of the Amazon possibly just a few years away I am left with no choice but to take action."