An Israeli-owned weapons manufacturer was blockaded by protestors who smeared blood red paint on its walls and chained the gates of the six-storey building in Oldham.

Demonstrators painted the front of the Elbit Ferranti factory on Greenacres Road, Waterhead. Two activists climbed onto a ledge and displayed banners with messages such as ‘shut Elbit down’ and ‘Elbit out of Oldham.’ The protest which happned last month was carried out by members of Extinction Rebellion and Palestine Action came weeks after the Ministry of Defence confirmed that Elbit Systems had received a contract worth £102 million for a surveillance system that will allow soldiers to detect and shoot targets within a matter of seconds.

The two direct action groups - in their first collaboration - condemned the British government’s relationship with the arms manufacturer which builds 85 percent of Israel’s military drone fleet. The protestors occupied the premises for about 16 hours and police were involved.

Huda Ammori co-founded Palestine Action seven months ago as a direct action movement. Their aim is to “end UK complicity in Israeli war crimes.”

She added: “We are not a one off movement but will continue to sustain action against all Elbit sites in the UK. The power is in the hands of ordinary people. It is everyone’s responsibility to take a stand against oppression.

“We are currently focusing on taking direct action against the 10 UK based sites belonging to the weapons manufacturer.”

The Haifa based Elbit Systems is a major producer of weaponry for Israel’s military, used in attacks against the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Elbit is Israel’s largest private arms contractor that bought the formerly British owned Ferranti Technologies in 2007.

Elbit Ferranti were contacted but refused to comment.