Mark Allen labels oil protestors as 'complete idiots' as he reaches second round of the World Snooker Championship

A man wearing a ‘Just Stop Oil’ T-shirt interrupted the match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry by jumping onto one of the tables and tipping out the powder, while a woman was prevented from executing a similar stunt on Allen’s table after being tackled by quick-thinking referee Olivier Marteel.

Play was suspended for the evening on the affected table, which was to be re-covered overnight, while the match between Allen and Fan Zhengyi resumed after a delay of 45 minutes.

The pair were later arrested by South Yorkshire Police.

"I think I was the last person to realise what was going on,” Allen told Eurosport.

"I was so engrossed in the shot I was trying to play and I heard a bang which I thought was on the other table.

"I was still focussed on the shot and I turned around and there was someone on the table.

"It was a bit surreal but I feel speaking about it, we shouldn't be giving them any air time to be honest as they are complete idiots.

"We are fortunate Olivier Marteel was on the ball with this one otherwise we would have faced the same consequence.

"I don't really see any point or purpose in what they're trying to do.

"There are probably better ways of trying to get their point across.

"I'd say if you saw it unfold, like other people would've, I'd say it was daunting at times as you don't know what's happening.

"They could have had weapons or anything really but fair play to Olivier and all the security staff because they were straight on the ball.

"I was probably one of the most chilled people in the building.

"I was just sitting in my changing room having a cup of tea and I was just waiting to be told as it was out of my control.”

Allen, who set-up a second round tie against Stuart Bingham after his 10-5 win, was full of praise for his opponent’s long potting and thanked the crowd for their support when they returned to the arena.

"You didn't want it to ruin their night as the crowd paid good money to come and watch,” he said.

"It was a really special moment and Fan and I had a wee smile at each other.

"5/10 - it was just satisfactory if it was on a school report.

"I always felt I was in complete control even when he got close at 7-5.

"I still felt in control of myself and I did miss one or two shots here and there but in general I didn't miss that many.

"I didn't score as heavily as I'd like to but there were a couple of centuries and I closed the match off well.

"Credit to Fan because some of his long potting is ridiculous.

"If he could just work on his cue ball a little he'd be a handful for anyone because he creates so many opportunities for himself with his long potting.

"There were a number of times I felt I played a half decent safety and then the referee was calling out 'one', it was phenomenal to watch.”