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Greenpeace environmental campaigners have attached themselves to the anchor chain of a drilling ship off Shetland.

The protest group has targeted the Stena Carron, which is operated by Stena Drilling and on contract to Chevron.

Greenpeace said the action was to highlight dangers in deepwater drilling. Chevron condemned the move.

Four protesters were arrested earlier this month after boarding a drilling rig off Greenland.

A Greenpeace spokesperson said: "Shetland is so beautiful and an oil spill here could devastate this area."

A Chevron spokesperson called on Greenpeace to "immediately stop their actions".

"This kind of action is foolhardy and demonstrates that Greenpeace is willing to put its volunteers at risk to carry out such reckless publicity stunts," the spokesperson said.

"We fully acknowledge and respect the right of Greenpeace or anyone else to express their views by peaceful and lawful action but deplore activities that could put people at risk."

Northern Constabulary said officers were monitoring the situation and hoped to resolve the incident peacefully.