Several central London bridges, including Waterloo, Blackfriars and Westminster, have been shut down by protesting Extinction Rebellion activists.
The group has carried out a series of protests this week demanding an end to fossil fuels. On Friday afternoon, activists staged a series of sit-ins on the bridges, cutting off some of the main traffic arteries of the capital.
For one period Blackfriars bridge was held by a single 76-year-old woman who lay in the road and refused to move. Lucy Harding, from Reading, said she had first learned about climate change from her step-son in 1976.
“That’s a long time to know that we are in danger and it has been really frightening to see it coming closer and closer, seeing tipping point after tipping point pass,” Harding said. “It’s awful to be 76, to actually see the end of my life coming, and knowing what has been left behind.”
About two dozen officers from City of London police surrounded Harding, who said she was determined to be arrested. However, she voluntarily ended her blockade after officers refused to pick her up and threatened to call an ambulance to take her away.
In a statement, XR said: “We’re calling for an immediate end to new fossil fuel investments as part of the rebellion and ongoing actions by Just Stop Oil continue.” Met police said they were on scene and working to manage the impact.
Elsewhere, several oil companies obtained civil injunctions to stop climate protesters while dozens of climate protesters were charged after launching synchronised actions targeting three key fuel distribution terminals early on Friday morning.
Energy Minister Greg Hands said: “While we value the right to peaceful protest, it is crucial that these do not cause disruption to people’s everyday lives. That’s why I’m pleased to see oil companies taking action to secure injunctions at their sites, working with local police forces to arrest those who break the law and ensure deliveries of fuel can continue as normal.”
Activists were arrested at the Kingsbury oil terminal near Tamworth, Staffordshire, and the Inter terminal in Grays and the Navigator terminal in West Thurrock, which are both on the banks of the Thames and supply petrol stations in east London and across the south-east.
Warwickshire police said: “Officers remain at Kingsbury oil terminal today and are currently dealing with protest activity after a number of protesters arrived overnight. There is minimal impact to the wider community at this time.”
Meanwhile a scientist arrested for taking part in an Extinction Rebellion action at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is on hunger and thirst strike after being held by police for more than 40 hours.
Emma Smart, 44, a marine biologist who has previously taken action with Insulate Britain, has had nothing to eat or drink since Thursday morning, according to her husband, Andy Smith.
Smart was one of nine scientists arrested at BEIS on Wednesday, and was pictured on the front page of the Guardian newspaper the following day. But while the rest were released, she was being kept in a cell at Charing Cross police station until she could be brought before a court on Saturday morning.
Her hunger strike was in protest at the conditions in which she was being kept, Smith said. She was being kept in a windowless cell, without a proper bed, and with the lights on 24 hours a day.
In a message to the Guardian from inside her cell, relayed by Smith, Smart said: “How come I’m the one being persecuted here for committing criminal damage with BEIS is still issuing new fossil fuel licences which will cause damage to the environment and future generations?”
On Friday, Smith was with scientists and medics at an XR protest outside Charing Cross police station. Jeff Waage, a professor of international development at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, held a placard outside the police station doors saying: “Science says new oil and gas = death.”
He said: “The arrests of scientists, keeping them from speaking out, is wrong and it’s preventing us from actually reaching the public with important scientific messages that are coming out of international research.”
Smith said the Metropolitan police had initially refused to release his wife because they said wrongly she was breaking bail conditions by taking part in the protest.
After realising those bail conditions did not apply and were no longer in force, police then decided they would hold her because they deemed her “a serial bail condition breaker”, Smith said.
He added: “Normally when they do things like this it is for people that have committed crimes that impact on society heavily, abusive crimes or domestic violence or stuff like that – if there is a continued risk.
“In this instance she was arrested for quite a minor crime of criminal damage on a government building. Also there was no disruption there, it was a targeted protest, so it’s quite unusual for them to take this line.
“Legally they can, but it is quite unusual protocol for them to do that. She should have had the same bail conditions as all the other scientists, which was: stay out of Westminster.”
Raj Chada, of Hodge Jones Allen, the firm of solicitors representing Smart, said: “We are urgently seeking Emmas release from her potentially unlawful detention. She is charged with a minor offence, for which it is unlikely that she will get a prison sentence. There is no reason to detain her and we are concerned for her welfare.”
A spokesperson for the Met police said: “Decisions regarding bail are taken on a case by case basis and consider a range of matters including, but not limited to, whether there is a risk to the public or the person detained, the likelihood of someone not complying with any bail conditions or absconding and any previous history of offending while on bail.
“Whilst people are in custody, officers have a duty of care for their welfare and will ensure the medical needs of all detainees are considered. Health care professionals are available to each custody suite.”
Agencies contributed to this report
