Campaigners from Dursley and Thornbury churches held a protest outside HSBC urging the bank to stop investing in fossil fuels.

They visited the Thornbury branch as part of a national action by Christian Aid to visit every branch in the country.

The group is calling on the bank to ensure its activity is in keeping with the Paris Agreement’s target of keeping global warming within a 1.5˚C rise above pre-industrial temperatures.

Campaigners delivered a letter to staff to forward to CEO John Flint applauding the bank’s investment of $100 billion dollars in green finance but also urging them to phase out financing fossil fuels altogether and to remove Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia from an exception to a bar on financing new coal powered plants across the world.

Campaigner David Nutbrown-Hughes from Dursley Tabernacle said: “This is not the kind of thing I have done before, but these are exceptional times. We have sat back and expected ‘other people’ to tackle climate change for too long.

“Climate change is destroying lives. We have to be more ambitious. Leading scientists tell us we have 12 years to save the world – what we want to do with this action is be part of making sure that those who are financing dirty fossil fuels are held to account.

“HSBC has agreed to invest $100billion in sustainable financing by 2025. This is fantastic. But it is still investing in fossil fuels.

“The staff were very happy to listen to our concerns and agreed to pass the letter on. Change happens when people come together and it’s great to know that we are part of a national movement.”

HSBC was unavailable for comment when the Gazette went to print.