Green activists who jumped on board a lumber ship off Southend Pier are refusing to budge.

Six Greenpeace protesters boarded the MV Enif and made their way up to walkways at the top of the mast - in protest at the timber trade which plunders Amazonian rainforests.

Today (Wednesday), they were refusing to allow the ship to unload its timber cargo at Tilbury.

The campaigners were positioned in two groups of three in walkways at the top of two masts when three specially- trained police officers climbed a fixed ladder to occupy one of the walkways yesterday (Tuesday).

As officers climbed to the walkway, the three protesters used an overhead line to join the other group.

The operation was scaled down at 8.30pm on safety grounds, but police remained on board overnight. Today, the stand-off remained at a terminal near Tilbury.

Protesters brandished banners saying "Protect the Amazon" and "Stop criminal timber imports". A police spokesman said: "We will try to use negotiations to end the situation."

Protest - dwarfed by the ship, a Greenpeace activist is roped to the bows

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