Play was halted at the World Snooker Championship on Monday after two Just Stop Oil protesters interrupted matches at the Crucible.

The first-round match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry was disrupted when a man wearing the movement's slogan climbed onto table one and threw orange paint over it before he was removed by security.

A woman attempted to glue herself to table two, on which Mark Allen was playing Fan Zhengyi, but she was stopped by the match referee.

Action on table two was able to continue, yet the match between Milkins and Perry was suspended for the day as table one needed to be re-clothed.

Just Stop Oil released a statement claiming responsibility for the protest, saying: "Two supporters of Just Stop Oil have disrupted the World Snooker Championship, climbing onto the snooker tables and throwing paint over one.

"They are demanding that the government stop all new UK fossil fuel projects and are calling on UK sporting institutions to join in civil resistance against the government's genocidal policies."

Just Stop Oil was behind another prominent sporting protest last year when a man attached himself to a goal post at Goodison Park during Everton's Premier League win over Newcastle United.