This article is more than 11 years old

This article is more than 11 years old

Fresh evidence has emerged of police efforts to recruit paid spies within environmental groups after the Guardian revealed that police in Scotland are running a network of hundreds of informants inside pressure groups.

Anti-nuclear protesters in Scotland said yesterday that military police had offered them cash in exchange for information.

One protester said he was offered money on top of his jobseeker's allowance - a move sanctioning benefit fraud - if he gave military police the names of people planning environmental action. One activist from Plane Stupid revealed that members had been given £20 by police.

James Woods, 22, an anti-nuclear protester arrested at Faslane, said: "When I was released I was asked by an officer about my income and how I got by ... they said they'd help my financial situation in a way that would not interfere with my dole if I gave them information on people involved in upcoming actions."

Jane Tallents, also an anti-nuclear protester, said she was asked for information by two military police officers. "They wanted to find out what groups worked together ... They said 'if you help us, we will help you'. It was pretty obvious it was about money."

The revelations are likely to increase pressure on the Scottish government to justify actions seen as disproportionate in dealing with peaceful groups.

At the weekend Scotland's justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, said he was satisfied Strathclyde police had "acted proportionately and legitimately" in a case in which officers allegedly offered an activist money for intelligence.

Greenpeace UK yesterday described the tactics as "intrusive and intimidating". The group is already demanding answers from the government after a private investigator claimed he was hired by French energy firm EDF and hacked into Greenpeace computers. He also consulted MI5 about the campaign group's work.

EDF denied it sanctioned such activities. "EDF wholeheartedly condemns any method aimed at obtaining information illegally," said a spokesman for the firm.