POLICE attempted to break into a squat providing emergency accommodation to climate activists during Cop26 today, leaving vulnerable guests traumatised, the occupants said. 

The activists at Baile Hoose, in Tradeston, Glasgow, said that 20 Metropolitan Police and Welsh officers broke into the neighbouring building and attempted to enter the occupied site through a reinforced door with a “battering ram” at about 3am this morning. 

The raid was apparently called off when Police Scotland arrived and “calmed the situation,” the occupants said. 

A Scotland Police spokesperson said officers had attended the property at 3am “following concerns for the safety and security of those using the building,” adding that “officers will continue to engage with those currently in the property.”

Speaking outside the occupied former homeless shelter, one activist said that occupants had been left scared and traumatised by the ordeal. 

“Within the building we’ve got a lot of marginalised groups … a lot of disabled people. We’re trying to keep people safe in here. A lot of people were scared about what happened last night.

“When they leave here they are still going to be scared because the mental scars and brutality will stay with them,” a spokesperson for Baile Hoose said. 

The site was opened last week after activists heard that some international climate campaigners and delegates were camping out and sleeping on the streets due to a lack of housing in the city. 

Another occupant said there were delegates staying there who missed meetings they were supposed to speak at that morning. 

“Last night’s action was a travesty from the police,” another activist said. They said they had counted at least 23 police vans parked outside. 

Another occupant, who identified themselves as Betty, said: “We are not criminals, we are providing a safe place. I think the real crime here is to keep these buildings empty when there’s a housing crisis and when there’s people freezing on the streets.”

One man at the site who had come to Glasgow for the conference but found himself without accommodation said he had feared for his life. 

Police were accused last week of deploying heavy-handed and intimidatory tactics against protesters during the summit. 

Commenting on the raid, Kevin Blowe of police monitoring group Netpol said: “Before Cop26 we called on Police Scotland to publish detailed guidance for visiting forces on complying with its much-vaunted human rights commitments. 

“That never happened. Nevertheless, every officer on Glasgow’s streets is Police Scotland’s responsibility — it should explain why Baile House was seen as a target.”

Elsewhere in the city, activists from Scientists Rebellion returned to the site of an action at the weekend, where around 20 of their members were arrested. 

During a teach-in on Monday afternoon, Spanish astrophysicist Elena Gonzalez, told the Star she and others had returned to King George V Bridge in central Glasgow to call on politicians to listen to scientists after the arrests.

“I was crying, thinking why am I here. Climate criminals like the government should be here,” she said. 

“I am desperate, I am terrified, governments are not doing shit. I don’t trust them to tackle the climate crisis. 

“I don’t want to go to jail but I don’t know there is anything else to do - the scientific community has been ignored for decades.”

She added: “Being an astrophysicist I know there is no Planet B. I know that is typical thing to say but we cannot go to Mars and live there, no, no, it is impossible. We have to maintain this planet.”