ACTIVISTS targeted oil giant Shell’s AGM today as the company rack up record profits off the back of the climate crisis while millions in Britain suffer fuel poverty.

The action, organised by Fossil Free London (FFL) and Extinction Rebellion (XR), caused delays of over an hour as they organised back-to-back disruptions.

It began when one protester immediately interrupted the meeting in east London chanting: “Shut down Shell.”

He told the AGM: “Welcome to Shell —  complicit in the destruction of people’s homes, livelihoods and lives. Welcome to hell.”

Shareholders called for the man to be quiet while the board let him continue speaking for a few minutes.

Chairman Sir Andrew Mackenzie eventually asked the protester to sit down, adding: “I think we’ve heard your point.”

A group of protesters then stood up and to the tune of Percy Mayfield’s Hit the Road Jack, sang: “Go to hell Shell and don’t you come back no more, no more, no more, no more...” 

The group also performed a choreographed dance as they held up banners and sang: “We’re on the highway to hell.”

The protesters were carried or escorted out of the meeting by security as they continued to chant.

After a protester tried to storm the stage, one could be heard shouting that the security staff were hurting her.

Another woman indicated to the two security staff escorting her out that she had hurt her head and felt faint.

A member of the security staff at the Shell AGM told an elderly protester to “be a lady” as she interrupted the meeting.

The woman could be heard saying “you’re hurting me” as she was escorted away.

Protesters then stood up individually to voice their concerns before being removed and replaced by another activist.

One revealed her observations of polluted water in Niger Delta, which she said was caused by Shell’s operations, saying: “They are not being given any compensation.

“You’re giving them no future. They cannot pass their farm onto their children.

“How dare Shell remove their water?”

The audience had visibly thinned after dozens of people were taken out.

FFL’s Joanna Warrington said: “Oil and gas consumption is driving extreme weather and climate collapse, from lethal floods in Pakistan to freak heatwaves in the UK, yet Shell is doubling down on these dirty, dangerous fuels.

“People are struggling under swelling energy bills, yet Shell continues to rake in billions of pounds by profiteering from fuel poverty and war in Ukraine.

“If we want a safe climate and affordable energy, then we have to stop new oil and gas.”

Ms Warrington said the group was calling on the company’s bosses to “look beyond their fat pay cheques and shut down Shell,” adding: “If they don’t, an avalanche of protest will do it for them.”

Protesters from groups including FFL, XR, Greenpeace, Catholic protest group Laudato Si’ Movement and Quakers for Climate Justice also held a rally outside the building.

Rhiannon Osborne of the People’s Health Tribunal of Shell and Total told the crowd: “Shell is a company famous for human and environmental rights abuses across the world.

“We are protesting today to take action against the Shell AGM in solidarity with communities worldwide who are resisting the violence of their fossil fuel extraction.”

Ms Osborne said Shell has destroyed the health, livelihoods and ecosystems of communities across Africa.

“These are now the very same communities which face the most severe consequences of climate change, such as flooding and crop failure, while Shell continues to make enormous profits and worsen the climate crisis by expanding fossil fuel extraction,” she said.

A Shell spokesperson said the protesters were “not interested in constructive engagement,” but that the company agrees that “society needs to take action on climate change.”

Beginning his opening speech some 72 minutes late, Mr Mackenzie said a shareholder resolution called by activist investor group Follow This “would reduce our ability to help the world.”

The suggestion, designed to speed up the oil giant’s decarbonisation, was defeated with 20.2 per cent of votes in favour.

Shell has made record profits of £7.6bn in the first three months of the year.

Government figures show there were more than three million households in fuel poverty last year in England alone, with the figure predicted to be much higher in 2023.