Campaign group Palestine Action smash up TWO Barclays banks in Greater Manchester with police called

Campaign group Palestine Action has said it has 'targeted' 20 branches of Barclays across England and Scotland - as a second in Greater Manchester is revealed to have been damaged.

The group posted images on X, formerly Twitter, showing branches of the bank covered in red paint and with smashed-up windows.

Police were called to Barclays at The Rock shopping precinct in Bury town centre - where a scene was set up and a cordon erected - after one of the attacks. Pictures showed the front of the branch on Central Street covered in red paint, with the front glass windows and doors also smashed.

And the Manchester Evening News can reveal a second Greater Manchester branch has also been hit, with images showing red paint and boarded-up glass frontages at Barclays on Bridge Street in Stockport town centre.

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Councillor David Meller, leader of the Stockport Labour group, said: "My role as a local councillor is to foster community cohesion. To see this is disappointing. I do not think incidents like this help matters.

"It is defacing quite an important asset for the town centre and I think it has knocked out a few cash machines as well. To see incidents like this do no one any good at all."

The images echo similar scenes to those at a number of Barclays branches across Greater Manchester last week. The branch on Market Street in Bolton was targeted, as well as two branches on Market Street and Mosley Street in Manchester city centre.

The high street bank has become a repeat target for pro-Palestine protesters and activists, with store fronts in central London and Brighton also hit.

The group, also on X, said rocks with the names of 'Palestinian martyrs' on them were thrown at a Barclays branch in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Manchester Evening News has approached Greater Manchester Police for further comment.

We also asked Barclays whether the branches in Bury and Stockport remained open today.

A spokesperson for Barclays said: "We provide vital financial services to US, UK and European public companies that supply defence products to NATO and its allies. Barclays does not directly invest in these companies. The defence sector is fundamental to our national security and the UK government has been clear that supporting defence companies is compatible with ESG considerations. Decisions on the implementation of arms embargos to other nations are the job of respective elected governments.”

"While we support the right to protest, we ask that campaigners do so in a way which respects our customers, colleagues and property."