Labour politicians returning to Parliament today will face furious eco protesters demanding they finally pull the plug on North Sea oil and gas developments.

Energy secretary Ed Miliband has withdrawn support for the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields in cases brought by environmental lobbyists Greenpeace and Uplift.

Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho branded the decision the “final blow” for the North Sea industry.

But eco-zealots from Fossil Free London have descended on Parliament this morning to urge Labour to block the scheme for good.

Shouting through a megaphone, one demonstrator said: “Labour, get off the fence, stop Rosebank, it makes no sense”.

Many are carrying placards and banners. The Rosebank development, which is 60 miles west of Shetland, is Britain’s biggest undeveloped oil and gas field. It contains up to 500 million barrels of oil and was planned to operate until around 2050.

It is twice the size of the controversial Cambo oil field. Jackdaw, another untapped gas site, is 150 miles east of Aberdeen.

Environmental campaign groups Greenpeace and Uplift launched legal claims against developing the sites.

And last Thursday the Government confirmed it would now not contest these legal claims by green groups – a huge blow to the North Sea industry.

It follows a landmark Supreme Court decision in June which said the environmental impact of emissions from burning fossil fuels must be considered in planning applications for extraction projects – not just the emissions produced in extraction.

It’s still possible for developers hoping to drill at the sites, energy giants Shell for Jackdaw and Norwegian state-owned Equinor for Rosebank, to continue to defend the claims.

The case could also be defended by the regulator that signed off on Rosebank’s approval, the North Sea Transition Authority.