The Crucible Theatre’s famous green baize turned orange at the world snooker championship when a protester interrupted a match by jumping on the table and releasing a packet of powder, causing play to be suspended.

Two protesters, part of the group Just Stop Oil, invaded snooker’s most famous arena shortly after play began in two matches in the evening session.

On one table, where Robert Milkins and Joe Perry were playing, a man leapt onto the table — scattering the balls — and threw orange dye over one half of the baize as boos and jeers came from the audience.

“You p****. Get him off,” someone from the crowd shouted, as others called him a “w***er” and called for security to get rid of him.

“Oil and gas will kill us,” the protester shouted.

On the other table, featuring a match between Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi, a woman was stopped from getting onto the table by the quick-thinking response of referee Olivier Marteel.

Both protesters were taken away by security, but the incident forced a stoppage in play while the mess was cleaned up.

Play resumed in the Allen-Zhengyi match about 45 minutes later but the affected table in the Milkins-Perry match was covered and will be re-clothed overnight with a decision to be made later about whether the latter match would continue.