CLIMATE activists dressed up as polar bears on melting ice in a protest against fossil fuels.

Extinction Rebellion protesters gathered outside Barclay’s Bank in North Street, Brighton on Monday, with four activists dressed as polar bears and surrounded by melting ice.

The bears sat on picnic chairs with empty hampers next to an A-board which said: ‘The ice caps are melting faster than ever before.

‘We have nowhere to go.

‘Today, it’s me and my family, tomorrow, it’s you and yours.’

The campaign group pitched up outside the Barclay’s branch to draw attention to the bank’s investment in fossil fuels.

According to a report published this year by Banktrack, Barclays has invested 85 billion dollars into fossil fuels, which is more than any other bank in Europe.

A spokeswoman for Extinction Rebellion Brighton, Verity Brown, said: “The use of fossil fuels ultimately has an effect on biodiversity which is from all of our worst nightmares, with devastating effects on the animals that we know and love.

“First it will be them and then us, unless those accountable buck up their ideas and start making the drastic changes that the planet needs and craves.

“We need the next government to act with an appropriate degree of urgency, so we are encouraging people to vote on Thursday with the climate and ecological emergency at the forefront of their minds.”

Extinction Rebellion say the action was well-received by passers-by, with many stopping to have a discussion about fossil fuels, and some pledging to switch bank accounts.

Monday’s action was part of Extinction Rebellion’s national Twelve Days of Crisis campaign, and day nine was dedicated to the issue of melting ice caps.

Climate activists in towns and cities across the UK are staging daily action up to Thursday’s General Election.