An environment campaigner has vowed to appeal after being convicted of trying to escape from Abingdon police station.

But the 41-year-old, known as The Ninja Ant, was cleared of possessing an offensive weapon after earlier taking a sword to Oxford Crown Court to swear his oath on.

The Ant, who gives his address as the Westminster peace camp, in London, represented himself in court.

After the hearing he said he was disappointed with the jury's verdict and vowed to appeal against the conviction.

During the three-day trial, the court heard that he had broken his arm after falling from a ceiling at the police station in February last year.

He had been arrested for aggravated trespass at Radley Lakes, during a protest against plans to fill the lakes with ash from Didcot power station.

The former factory worker, who became a full-time campaigner in 2001 and claims incapacity benefit, admitted trying to escape but claimed he was unlawfully detained.

At a preliminary hearing, he had threatened to carry out a citizen's arrest on the judge.

Sentencing him to a two-year conditional discharge, Judge Julian Hall said: "If you had simply fallen out of the ceiling and dusted yourself down, I would have sent you to prison. I think you have been punished enough in this matter."

Speaking outside court, The Ant said he would collect his sword from St Aldate's police station, where it had been kept since it was taken from him in January.