A 14-year-old Hereford girl has said she does not care if she gets a criminal record after staging a protest against whaling at the Japanese Embassy.

Sophie Wyness and her father Martin were arrested on Thursday after tying themselves to railings inside the London-based embassy with cable ties.

The pair were later released after being charged with criminal trespass and are due to appear before City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Wednesday, February 6.

Sophie said: "I honestly think that me having a criminal record is not a big price to pay when what the whales are going through is so much worse."

It is not the first time Sophie, who has also campaigned against Australia's nuclear policy, has been removed from a protest but it is the first time she has been arrested.

She added: "I have just been released. We have been charged with criminal trespass and it will go before the Attorney General, not the CPS, because of the political implications."

The teenager was inspired to take action after watching a film about the Greenpeace vessel Esperanza - which is currently disrupting the activities of the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean.

One video clip lasting 30 seconds, which showed a whale being blown up, had "hit me hard", she explained.

The video pushed her to stage the hour-long protest because she felt it was wrong to wrong to "brutally murder" whales.

"It's a very important subject at the moment," she added. "They're such amazing creatures and they deserve rights and love and a bit of respect."