Eco protesters have forced contractor HBG to halt work on an art gallery refurbishment in a row over the sourcing of materials

Dozens of Greenpeace activists stormed the site of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow on Monday and seized Merbau timber used for flooring.

The protesters claim the timber was taken from unsustainable South East Asian rainforests. Work on the floor refurbishment has now ceased, pending a Glasgow council investigation into the allegations.

An HBG spokesperson said the contractor had taken reasonable measures to ensure the timber was taken from an environmentally responsible source. He said Danish supplier Junckers had provided a 鈥渟ustainable forest management certificate鈥� from the Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB).

The spokesperson said: 鈥淎s far as we鈥檙e aware, we met requirements for environmental responsibility. It鈥檚 a question of how far back we should be expected to check sources. Whatever documentation we鈥檝e got doesn鈥檛 comply with what Greenpeace thinks we should have, but we are trying to source the timber further.鈥�

Greenpeace says the MTIB document does not confirm the timber鈥檚 origin or give any guarantee about standards of forest management, as it is produced by the industry rather than an independent regulator.

A Greenpeace spokesperson said: 鈥淗BG was given a statement saying the wood originated from Malaysia, but didn鈥檛 check it back beyond that. If it had done so, it would have found the information didn鈥檛 add up鈥�.

Junckers has told Greenpeace that full documentation on the origin of the timber did not exist. A Greenpeace spokesperson said this showed the wood did not come from an environmentally responsible source.

Greenpeace has called for contractors and clients to use timber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.