A group of environmentalists who closed down an Edinburgh petrol station as they protested wearing polar bear costumes have been fined.

The seven protestors were arrested after they seized control of a Shell garage in Dalry Road, Edinburgh, in July 2011.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how some members of the Greenpeace group wore animal costumes while chaining themselves to petrol pumps. Others climbed onto the garage roof and turned off fuel supplies during the 12-hour occupation.

Sheriff Isabella McColl was told the protestors targeted Shell over the firm’s plans to drill for oil in the Arctic, which Greenpeace says could cause huge environmental problems.

The protestors were each fined £200 and three polar bear costumes which were used in the protests were seized.

One of the seven, Simon Hackin, who organised the protest, was also ordered to pay the garage operators £300, the amount they lost as a consequence of the occupation.

The protestors pleaded guilty to a charge of committing malicious mischief.