ACTIVISTS targeted branches of Barclays and the homes of senior staff members today to demand the bank stop investing in fossil fuels.

Ahead of the bank’s annual general meeting, masked activists belonging to underground climate group Shut The System (STS) graffitied the exterior of branches across the country.

Activists superglued door locks and ATMs, and cut WiFi cables at Barclay Card's Northampton headquarters.

Messages calling for divestment were also graffitied outside the multi-million pound properties of Barclays UK CEO Vimlesh Maru, global head of sustainable finance Daniel Hanna, and president of Barclays Bank PLC Stephen Dainton.

A spokesperson for Shut The System said: “For years Barclays have resisted the calls of peaceful campaigners to divest. 

”By targeting Barclays offices, the luxury flats and mansions of their senior staff and organisations supporting the bank, we are creating the pressure to rein in these corporate murderers.”

According to the report Banking on Climate Chaos, Barclays has invested $235.19 billion (£176.2bn) into the fossil fuel sector since world leaders pledged to limit warming to 1.5°C in the 2015 Paris Agreement.