Climate activists halt play at World Snooker Championship

Climate activists from the 'Just Stop Oil' group halted play at the World Snooker Championship on Monday, with one throwing orange powder on the table at the Crucible Theatre.

Joe Perry's first-round match against Robert Milkins had to be stopped when a man jumped onto the table and emptied a bag of orange powder across the green baize.

Stunned fans watched on as half of the table and many of the balls were covered in the cloud of powder, with the man kneeling on the baize for several seconds before a security guard dragged him away.

The man was wearing a white t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan 'Just Stop Oil' on the back.

On the other table at the Sheffield arena, the match between Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi was interrupted when a woman, also wearing a 'Just Stop Oil' t-shirt, tried to get on the baize at the same time as the male protestor.

She was dragged off by referee Olivier Marteel before any powder was thrown.

Play was immediately suspended as vacuum cleaners were brought into the arena, with master of ceremonies Rob Walker among those helping to sweep up the mess.

Both matches were expected to resume later on Monday evening.

Former world champion Stephen Hendry, working as a commentator for the BBC, said: "I have never seen that before at a snooker event. It's a first.

"It is scary. Wow! You just hope the cloth can be recovered from that. It caught us all by surprise and then this happens.

"For me, straight away as a snooker player I am thinking: 'Is the table recoverable?' We don't know what that is on the table."

The protest came just two days after Saturday's Grand National was delayed by almost 15 minutes when animal-rights protesters attempted to enter the racecourse and tie themselves to fences and railings along