Actress leads UK protest against Esso

British actress Julia Sawalha has led an environmental protest against Esso by urging motorists not to buy the firm's fuel.

Alongside her comedian boyfriend Alan Davies, the actress, handed out leaflets outside a garage in Camden, north London.

They joined thousands of demonstrators at 400 forecourts across the country who spoke to drivers and held up placards saying Beep If You Don't Buy Esso.

The StopEsso campaign is a coalition of Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and People & Planet. It claims Esso's parent company, the Texas-based ExxonMobil corporation, has repeatedly sabotaged international action against global warming.

Sawalha said: "As an individual it's very easy to feel helpless in the face of huge environmental issues, especially global warming. But as I've found today, people are willing to boycott Esso.

"Lots of cars were beeping their horns and turning away from the garage. I don't buy Esso and won't until they face up to their responsibilities on global warming. We have to make it clear to Esso that we won't be bullied. That's why we are standing up to them."

Esso hit back at protesters, accusing them of waging "a national campaign of misinformation against Esso and our parent company ExxonMobil corporation for over a year".

Esso UK public affairs manager Gordon Sawyer said: "Of course Esso takes the issue of climate change seriously. It is nonsense to suggest that we don't.

"We are actively working to address the risks it poses, substantially reducing carbon dioxide emissions from our operations, leading our industry in the take-up of emissions-reducing 'combined heat and power' technology and achieving break-through technological developments that support the low emission vehicles of the future."

"We have led the petrol industry over the years in providing cleaner, greener fuels to British motorists and I can assure them that we shall continue to provide them with products which reflect Esso's long-standing commitment to the environment."