CLIMATE activists are protesting outside Amazon's Dunfermline warehouse in Fife as they aim to disrupt the firm's busiest day of the year.

The action by Extinction Rebellion (XR), as part of a Black Friday demonstration targeting 15 Amazon fulfillment centres in the UK, US, Germany, and the Netherlands, began at around 4am this morning.

Around 20 activists are blocking entrances to the site using lock-ons and banners that they say "is intended to draw attention to Amazon’s exploitative and environmentally destructive business practices, disregard for workers' rights in the name of company profits, as well as the wastefulness of Black Friday".

An XR spokesperson said: "The blockade is part of an international action by Extinction Rebellion targeting 15 Amazon fulfillment centers in the UK, US, Germany, and the Netherlands aimed at highlighting Amazon’s “crimes”.

"This is happening in solidarity with activists and workers from the global 'Make Amazon Pay' campaign, demanding better working conditions, clear environmental commitments, and for Amazon to pay their fair share of tax.

"The action aims to expose Amazon’s crimes and the wastefulness of Black Friday while holding it up as an example of a wider economic system designed to keep us hooked on buying things we don’t need, at a price the planet cannot afford.

"Amazon continues to lobby the US Government to fight against climate legislation while telling the public they are committed to green initiatives.

"They are committing the very definition of greenwash."

An Amazon spokesperson told the Times that the firm were working to minimise any potential disruption to customers across its large network of UK sites, and are collaborating with police to ensure the safety of both their employees and those protesting.

The spokesperson said: "At Amazon, we take our responsibilities very seriously. That includes our commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040 - 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement - providing excellent pay and benefits in a safe and modern work environment, and supporting the tens of thousands of British small businesses who sell on our store.

"We know there is always more to do, and we’ll continue to invent and invest on behalf of our employees, customers, small businesses and communities in the UK.

"We’re proud to have invested £32bn in the UK since 2010, creating 10,000 new permanent jobs across the country this year alone, and generating a total UK tax contribution of £1.55bn in 2020."

Amazon added that the company are on a path to power its operations with 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025, and was now the biggest corporate buyer of renewable energy in Europe and the world.

They also said that, in 2019, they co-founded The Climate Pledge - a commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement, and that they added more than 1,800 electric vehicles to its EU delivery fleet last year, including more than 500 in the UK.