THE family of a Greenpeace activist from Oxfordshire detained in Russia on piracy charges said they are “praying for some sort of reason to prevail”.

Phil Ball, 42, from Chipping Norton, was among 30 activists detained by Russian authorities while aboard the boat Arctic Sunrise after allegedly trying to seize an oil platform on September 18.

They appeared in Murmansk’s Lenin district court on September 26 but have now been detained for two months pending a piracy investigation.

Mr Ball’s brother Steve told ITV: “I am praying that some sort of reason will prevail but we have to face the fact that we might be trying to find ways of visiting him.”

The news comes after it emerged that the Government has met with Russian representatives to discuss their concerns over the detentions.