A climate protester accused of throwing pink paint at two different council buildings in Norwich was ordered to attend court by a judge..

Paint was splattered over County Hall and City Hall on February 15 last year as part of a nationwide ‘Burning Pink’ protest in response to perceived inaction of councils to tackle climate change.

Gabriella Ditton, 28, of Silver Road, Norwich, and Nicola Stickells, 51, of High Road, Needham, near Harleston, both deny criminal damage..

At a hearing at Norwich Crown Court on Thursday (October 27), Judge Andrew Shaw demanded that Ditton, who is representing herself, be brought from home to attend court in person.

He said: “Both defendants accept the actions - the question is whether they have a defence in law to what they did?”

Ditton, who attended court three hours later, was asked to explain how she plans to defend the charges.

She said she plans to call one witness in an effort to prove the necessity of her actions.

Both women are due stand trial from November 1.