Climate activists blocked hundreds of employees from entering the headquarters of French bank Societe Generale, state-run utility EDF and oil giant Total on Friday (April 19), environmental group Greenpeace said.

Greenpeace said it was protesting against the companies links to the oil and gas industry, which the group says is a driving force in global warming.

They plastered giant posters of President Emmanuel Macron carrying the slogan "Macron, President of Polluters" and a banner reading "Scene of Climate Crime" on the glass facade of Societe Generale,

Police pepper-sprayed one group blocking the bank's main entrance in a sit-down protest.

Some protesters taped themselves together while others cuffed themselves with plastic ties to metal poles to make it harder for police to dislodge them.