Climate activists have sabotaged petrol pumps after blocking forecourts at two motorway service stations on the M25.
Supporters of Just Stop Oil smashed display glass and covered it in spray paint after stopping motorists from entering forecourts at Cobham Services in Surrey and Clacket Lane Services in Kent at 7am on Thursday. Thirty-five people were involved in the action, according to the group.
One of the activists, Nathan McGovern, a 22-year-old student from Coventry, said: “I refuse to stand by and watch as heatwaves and drought murder people across the global south and families in the UK are forced to choose between eating and heating. If politicians and bureaucrats refuse to act then it falls on ordinary people to do what they will not.”
Just Stop Oil described the sabotage of petrol pumps as “a significant escalation”. The move is reminiscent of Insulate Britain’s protests between September and November last year, when M25 junctions were repeatedly blocked.
Just Stop Oil began its protests on April 1. It has carried out a series of blockades of fuel terminals in south-east England and the Midlands, and targeted several high-profile football matches.
More than 1,000 arrests have been made. The group said it will “continue the disruption until the Government makes a statement that it will end new oil and gas projects in the UK”.
Ten supporters arrested outside Kingsbury oil terminal on Wednesday are due to appear at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday. They are charged with contempt of court relating to an injunction granted to North Warwickshire Borough Council which prohibited protests at the site.
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