Kettering Barclays Bank locks superglued by Extinction Rebellion as more than 40 branches targeted

Kettering’s branch of Barclays Bank has been targeted by climate activists by squeezing superglue into the front door locks – one of nearly 50 incidents across the UK.

Staff were left in the rain outside the Market Street bank – remnants of glue drips still visible and an A4 poster stuck to the glass door saying ‘we have closed this bank today’.

A statement sent to news organisations admitted responsibility for the incident as being by Extinction Rebellion, sister organisation Money Rebellion and allied groups.

The statement said: “At dead of night and armed only with tubes of superglue, activists held the number one funder of fossil fuels in Europe to account for its continued climate-wrecking criminal damage which endangers the future of all life on the planet.”

Around fifty Barclays branches across the UK have been superglued including in Kettering, Glasgow, Leeds, Lincoln and London ‘to protest Barclays’ continuing investment in oil and gas projects’ and the ‘impact on the climate’.

The poster stuck to the front door in Kettering apologised to customers for the inconvenience. It’s the second time the Kettering Barclays has been targeted.

In November 2022, the branch was graffitied with poster paint and posters stuck to the windows.

Extinction Rebellion added: “This is part of a significant new wave of property-focused climate action. Superglued locks shutting down a branch may impact its business in the short term, but the longer term damage is to Barclays’ reputation as customers discover how its outdated business model destroys the environment, and take their money elsewhere.”

A Northamptonshire Police spokesman said: “We received a report shortly before 9.30am yesterday (Monday, November 27) regarding an incident of criminal damage at Barclays Bank in Market Square, Kettering. It is suspected the branch has been targeted over the weekend by protestors, causing damage to the main customer entrance.”

Barclays has declined to comment.