Members of climate action group Extinction Rebellion have taken to Newcastle's Central Motorway calling for a ban on fossil fuels.
The demonstration was part of a nationwide Extinction Rebellion 2022 campaign which will see the environmental activists renewing their call for an end to the global fossil fuel economy.
Protesters draped a banner declaring 'No Future in Fossil Fuels' over the Claremont Road Bridge crossing the A167 Central Motorway during the busy Friday morning rush hour.
Read more: North Tyneside children to take to the coast calling for action on climate change
Unlike other Extinction Rebellion protests, Friday morning's action didn't cause disruption for drivers on their way to work. But the no fossil fuels message picked out in black on a luminous green background, was visible to drivers for some distance.
Extinction Rebellion protester Tony Waterson, a retired consultant paediatrician from Jesmond, Newcastle, told ChronicleLive: "We're here to put a banner on the Claremont Road Bridge...it's a very, very busy motorway. There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cars passing.
"We're doing this as a national demo, it's one of many demos all over the country, to say 'no fossil fuels'. This is our mission today, to get this message out to everyone, that we have got to stop taking fossil fuels out of the ground, otherwise we are sunk."
Extinction Rebellion has made it known they intend to block major British oil refineries during April as part of the group's campaign to end people's reliance on fossil fuels. The action is officially due to begin on April 9 with the group - which caused days of traffic chaos in central London three years ago - saying the the aim is to cause enough disruption "to create a tipping point moment".
Extinction Rebellion has hinted that after the refineries blockades, it intends to "flood" London with people to create their largest number of roadblocks.
The group's co-founder Clare Farrell has been quoted as saying: "Oil refineries are symbolic of continued extraction and profit for a small group of very wealthy companies at the expense of everyone else.
"We burn them, pollute our cities, poison ourselves and our children whilst committing to climate breakdown. It’s no wonder the entire environmental movement is focusing on ending fossil fuels and the death they cause."
Britain has committed to reaching a net zero goal for carbon emissions by 2050. However, those plans are coming under increasing pressure in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.
The Government has said it will step up domestic production of oil and gas following an announcement that imports of Russian oil are to be phased out by the end of 2022.
