A group of Greenpeace activists chained themselves to Land Rovers at a Midland dealership as part of a protest against the vehicles and vowed to continue their campaign throughout the summer.

Campaigners targeted the garage in Solihull just two weeks after they handcuffed themselves to vehicles at the nearby Land Rover factory at Lode Lane.

Thirty dealerships across the country were stormed by the protesters, who stuck posters on the 4x4s and waved placards accusing them of being a 'climate criminal'.

Speaking from the garage in Marshall Lake Road, Solihull, Greenpeace spokesman Mark Strutt said: "We have taken direct action in Birmingham to stop Land Rover selling these climate-wrecking cars.

"A petrol Range Rover Sport does a measly 12 miles per gallon in town - that's less miles per gallon than a model T Ford did 80 years ago."

Greenpeace believe that Land Rover is aggressively marketing the vehicles for use in cities by spending £3.2 million on advertising.

"Land Rover bosses are climate criminals," said Mr Strutt. "They continue to build and sell some of the most polluting and climate-damaging cars around today. Land Rover and Ford have the know-how and expertise to develop far more fuel-efficient vehicles but are choosing not to."

A Land Rover spokeswoman said: "The CO2 contribution by SUVs has been blown out of proportion by the persistent use of selective data. Over 80 per cent of the cars we sell are diesel and our biggest seller is the Freelander which does 37 mpg and with CO2 emissions about the same as a Mini Cooper S. Greenpeace has come to the wrong place and is picking on the wrong people.

"Our customers buy Land Rovers because they want genuine off-road ability and that's how over half of them use their vehicles on a regular basis.

"We take our responsibility to the environment seriously and that's why Land Rover is looking at hybrids and alternative fuels. All this was explained by Land Rover in a face-to-face meeting with Greenpeace." n An electric vehicle with a top speed of just 40mph is the most "ethical" car available in the UK.

The Reva G-Wiz topped Ethical Consumer magazine's list of cars rated according to eco-friendliness and corporate responsibility.