Police have launched an investigation after environmental protesters attacked petrol stations across London.

Activists from Greenpeace have confirmed they have targeted Shell petrol stations across London, in a protest over the oil giant's plants to drill in the Arctic for the first time.

At the Shell garage on Queenstown Road, next to London’s Battersea Park, protestors have scaled the roof and are operating a life-sized polar bear puppet.

Deputy Borough Commander, Pete Dobson, said the Shell garage, opposite Wimbledon greyhound stadium, was now a crime scene after petrol pumps were locked by the activists.

Chief Inspector Dobson said the suspects were three men and a woman, who fled before police arrived, and are believed to have targeted other Shell garages in Sutton and Croydon boroughs.

Greenpeace campaigner Sara Ayech, who is at the Shell petrol station in Battersea, said: “The oil giant Shell is preparing, for the first time, to unleash a drilling fleet of huge vessels upon the fragile and beautiful Arctic, home of the polar bears.

“It’s time to draw a line in the ice and tell Shell to stop.

“An oil spill in the Arctic would be catastrophic for wildlife such as walruses and whales, and Shell knows full well that it would be impossible to clean up after such devastation. The Arctic must be saved, and made a global sanctuary where oil drilling is banned.”

Did you see the protestors? Call 020 8722 6333, tweet @WimbledonNews or email Omar at: ooakes@london.newsquest.co.uk .