For a group concerned about the rights of threatened animals, it was perhaps appropriate.

This week, we have seen a rare beast indeed in this city – a climbdown by the Bath Activists Network.

In some ways, we admire the sheer nerve and verve of a group which manages to combine military efficiency with an absence of any organised structure.

They fully exploit the right to protest, whether it be over foie gras, the economy, the BNP or horse racing.

They're like a very loud conscience, repeatedly and noisily banging away on our shoulders.

And yet, with their latest protest plans, BAN's members have picked the wrong target.

Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr said – give or take a few words – that the right to freedom of speech did not extend to falsely shouting fire in a crowded theatre.

And, in this case, BAN had clearly decided to shoot first and ask questions later.

Their claims about the activities of city energy firm Blue-NG as they announced a protest outside the company's headquarters were lengthy and detailed.

And yet within hours of sending them to the Chronicle, they had been comprehensively and convincingly rubbished by Blue-NG.

And it wasn't long before the protest was called off.

We'll leave aside the fact that Blue-NG is the sort of go-ahead, cutting-edge, expanding firm that we should all be celebrating.

And the fact that the company has chosen to buy UK rapeseed oil instead of the much cheaper palm oil – so hitting their profit margin – simply because, in their words, "it's the right thing to do".

The real message here is that BAN needs to get its facts right.

If they're going to be assaulting our eardrums through their megaphone, they should at least make sure they know what they're shouting about.

However, there's one thing for certain; there's no doubt that Bath hasn't seen the last of them.