CPS says there is not enough evidence to proceed against Greenpeace activists who blockaded firm's London office
Criminal charges have been dropped against dozens of people who staged a protest against plastic pollution outside the headquarters of Unilever.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has decided not to proceed against 34 individuals days before their trial was due to start.
Eight people had been facing charges of aggravated trespass and 26 protesters were charged with the new offence of "locking on", which was introduced in the Public Order Act 2023.
In a letter from the CPS, lawyers said charges were being dropped because there was "not enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction".
The charges related to a protest outside Unilever's headquarters in London last September when Greenpeace activists blockaded the entrances in protest over the company's alleged failure to tackle plastic pollution.
Will McCallum, a co-executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: "This is a bolt of good news in an otherwise bleak landscape for protest rights. Our activists were facing a combined total of up to 15 years in prison for standing up to one of the world's largest plastic polluters."
Greenpeace's protest was part of a continuing campaign against Unilever after the company announced a major rollback of plastic reduction targets last year.
Climbers scaled the headquarters and attached a large artwork to the outside wall. Activists also blocked the entrances to the building, locking themselves on to large models of the company's flagship Dove products and a "dead dove" parody of the brand's logo.
The first trials had been due to begin on 15 January at City of London magistrates court.
Unilever has been approached for a comment.