Just Stop Oil protesters blocking a major roundabout in central London at rush hour have been confronted by furious motorists - with some tearing banners from their hands.
Angry drivers tussled with about 25 activists as they blocked traffic at St George’s Circus, near London’s Waterloo station and Elephant and Castle, with some having glued themselves to the Tarmac.
The protesters blocked the busy junction from 9am on Thursday bringing rush hour traffic to a halt.
One woman pleaded: “I have a disabled child who needs to get to school, just move now.”
A taxi driver arguing with the protesters said: “How am I going to pay my mortgage? I need to make a living.”
At one stage an ambulance was held up in the traffic chaos, while more than a dozen buses were backed up at the junction.
Some passersby intervened to stop the activists being attacked, with one shouting “leave them - you can’t touch them”.
Dozens of police were on the scene at 9.25am and led many of the protesters, including some pensioners, away in handcuffs.
The roads had re-opened by about 10.40am with multiple peopled arrested, including some pensioners.
One protester told the Standard: “We are highlighting a very serious problem. We are peaceful. We are peaceful and change is needed.”
Just Stop Oil Spokesman Alex De Koning, 24, a PhD in green hydrogen production, added: “We believe renewable energy cheaper and mass civil resistance works. I understand the frustration of motorists but I also empathise with people losing their homes from wildfires and flood due to climate change.”
Thursday’s sit-ins are the latest in a string of demonstrations Just Stop Oil is carrying out in London throughout October, in a bid to cause disruption and force the Government to halt its consent for all new oil and gas licences.
Just Stop Oil says more than 337 arrests have been made by police during the protests.
Its previous 12 days of action have seen the group target key routes and busy hotspots including Trafalgar Square, Knightsbridge, The Mall near Buckingham Palace, and roads around Westminster.
Wednesday saw protesters target Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament as Liz Truss faced Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons.
The group said: “This is not a one day event, this is an act of resistance against a criminal government and their genocidal death project.
“Our supporters will be returning – today, tomorrow and the next day – and the next day after that – and every day until our demand is met: no new oil and gas in the UK.
“We will not be intimidated by changes to the law, we will not be stopped by private injunctions sought to silence peaceful people. Our supporters understand that these are irrelevant when set against mass starvation, slaughter, the loss of our rights, freedoms and communities.”
