PROTESTERS reached the roof of the Npower offices this morning as they tried to raise awareness about issues including the energy industry's 'failure'.

Shortly after 10.30am a number of people climbed the company’s building on the Windmill Hill Business Park and unfurled a banner which they hung from the roof.

Senior company officials spoke with the protesters and convinced them to come down on safety grounds, although they allowed them to keep the banner hanging.

A group of protesters then gathered outside the front of the building for several hours.

Police were in attendance but it was an entirely peaceful protest, with Npower bring hot drinks for the protesters, until they left at around 2pm.

The protest was part of the wider Reclaim the Power campaign, which saw people head to various energy companies around the country in a coordinated action.

Those at Npower were from the group No Dash For Gas, and were campaigning against what they see as an overall failure by the energy industry.

One of the protesters said: “If there is a message here it’s that everyone needs to join together, everyone in the community.

“We not just all of us at risk but the future of our children and our children’s children. We are seeing thousands die because they can’t pay their fuel bills while the energy companies make millions in profit every year.

“It is completely wrong and something needs to be done.”

Another said: “If we thought writing letters or something like that would make a difference then we would do that but it makes no difference.

“The Government can’t be trusted to take action so we are doing this to make the companies like Npower stop. The environment can’t take any more of this.”

Guy Esnouf, director of public relations for Npower, sat and spoke with the protesters for almost an hour and, while they were not convinced by much of the discussion, he said they respected the group’s right to protest.

He also defended the company’s approach to renewable energy, saying: “We fully support and are already playing a large role in helping deliver the Government’s ambition of a ‘low carbon economy’.

“Later in June we will inaugurate the world’s largest wind-farm Gwyant Y Mȏr. We understand the issues raised by ‘Reclaim the Power’, environmental concerns are a major priority for us.

“However, we need a mix of different kinds of power generation to guard against security of supply issues, and to ultimately deliver lower carbon emissions and control energy costs.”

A police spokeswoman said: “Wiltshire Police attended the RWE Npower PLC at Windmill Hill Business Park at approximately 11.25am today following a report that three protestors were on the roof of the building.

“The protestors came down from the roof within 30 minutes and the protest remained peaceful. All protestors left the scene by 2pm.”