Pro-Palestine activists blockaded dozens of Barclays bank branches on Saturday in protest at the institution’s financial links with Israel, forcing some to shut their doors to customers.

The protestors called for customers to close down their accounts to show their opposition to the bank’s alleged investment in arms companies selling weapons used by Israeli forces in the Gaza conflict.

In Brighton a branch shut its doors after dozens of activists blocked the entrance with a banner reading “Stop arming Israel”.

A dozen protesters gathered outside Barclays in Brent, north west London, standing in the entrance and holding banners reading “Free Palestine” and “Stop Arming Israel”, with similar protests in Glasgow, Leeds, Oxford and Coventry.