Just Stop Oil protesters spill into London streets to disrupt traffic

Just Stop Oil has launched its biggest ever slow-march protest almost 200 eco-zealots targeted 15 locations across London – as furious motorists resort to dragging them off the roads. 

The eco-zealots have pledged to ‘paralyse London’ over the coming weeks with slow-marching columns ten times bigger than any previous marches, to force the ‘murderous Government’ – as they refer to it – to scrap new domestic oil and gas licences. 

Violence spilled out during the morning rush hour as the lobby group yet again disrupted traffic and crucial road networks. The Met Police says it has removed 183 protesters and arrested 21 so far.

JSO has deployed members in Bishopsgate, Whitehall, Bird Cage Walk, Aldwych, Lillie Road, Holloway Road, Jamaica Road, Islington High Street, Kensington Road, Praed Street, Wandsworth Bridge, Commercial Road, Holloway Road and Cromwell Road so far.

Their latest antics led to one furious motorist taking matters into his hands in Marylebone by grabbing protesters and swinging them onto the side of the road. He warned: ‘I’m telling you one last time.’ Another frustrated Londoner snatched one of the group’s orange banners as he drove by on a motorbike.

JSO has been in the spotlight recently for halting play at Wimbledon and during a test match of The Ashes by throwing orange confetti. Protesters interrupted a live recording of the Channel 4 programme The Last Leg on Friday.

A furious member of the public started to grab and pull protesters off Marylebone Road this morning

A man on a motorcycle snatches a Just Stop Oil banner while activists block traffic on Marylebone Road in central London

Nearly 200 protesters have poured on to the streets of London this morning as Just Stop Oil vows an ‘escalation of resistance’. Demonstrators are pictured in the Strand 

Their controversial methods have long divided opinion as their protests cause major disruptions to the public by gluing themselves down to roads and airport runways. 

One motorist chased a protester down Marylebone Road before he started to shove those holding up traffic.

He then became more agitated and started to grab one demonstrator by their orange hi-vis jacket and dragged them to the side of the road.

After briefly returning to the passenger seat of a white Range Rover, the man suddenly leaves his car again and shouts: ‘Are you trying to wind me up?’

Marching towards the eco-zealots he then waves his finger at one of them, shouting: ‘I’m going to tell you one last time.’

The furious motorist then becomes more aggressive, grabbing onto a protester’s arm before swinging them to the side of the road, losing a shoe in the process.

He eventually returns to the vehicle after two minutes of remonstrating and the car is allowed to pass. 

JSO, in what it describes as an ‘escalation of resistance from previous weeks’, descended on the capital around 8am today in 14 groups.

Protesters, in groups as small as five and large as 25, marched along key roads in central London as they carried placards reading ‘new oil = murder’, ‘hottest June ever’ and ‘can’t eat oil’.

The eco-zealots allege they were followed by police ‘before marches began’ and that officers began issuing Public Order Act (Section 12) notices just minutes after the first demonstration set off.

The Met, working with City of London Police, confirmed that it first moved five protesters slow walking in the road at Bishopsgate. 

At 8.24am, officers issued 15 protesters Section 12 orders to move off the road on Whitehall. Half an hour later, 25 eco-zealots were removed off Bird Cage Walk in Westminster.

On Marylebone Road, a furious motorist chased the eco-mob down the street and demanded they move

After getting more and more impatient with the group’s antics, he then started to swing them onto the side of the road

Londoners are facing the biggest ever Just Stop Oil protest this morning as eco-zealots descend on the capital

They then moved seven off Bayswater Road, ten to 15 off Lillie Road, 10 in Jamaica Road, Bermondsey and eight in Islington high Street.

Officers were then called to order six more off Kensington Road by the Royal Albert Hall and seven more in Praed Street, Paddington.

Nine eco-clowns were removed off Holloway Road later and 25 were taken off the streets on Cromwell Road.

Some 20 more were found on Commercial Road, while police removed 13 others on Wandsworth Bridge. Officers attended 12 protesters in Bridge Street and six more on Cromwell Road later on in the morning.

JSO also claims that officers were following demonstrators on the tube this morning.

MailOnline has approached Met Police and the City of London Police for comment. 

Ben, 36, was among the Just Stop Oil demonstrators arrested this morning. 

In a video shared online, the activist said: ‘I am being arrested unlawfully for marching in the road to highlight the impact of the climate change crisis and how this government is refusing to take relevant action to protect its citizens.’

Ben, 36, was among those arrested this morning. He said: ‘I am being arrested unlawfully for marching in the road to highlight the impact of the climate change crisis and how this government is refusing to take relevant action to protect its citizens’

Just Stop Oil says that 15 demonstrators have already been arrested this morning. A senior officer is seen taking a protester into custody today

The eco-zealots have pledged to ‘paralyse London’ over the coming weeks with slow-marching columns ten times bigger than any previous marches. Demonstrators are pictured in Bishopsgate, City of London this morning

The protesters want to force the Government  to scrap new domestic oil and gas licences. Demonstrators are seen marching in Bishopsgate, City of London this morning

 He said the Government issuing new oil and gas licences has a ‘major impact’ on citizens and is ‘genocidal’.

‘The Government is leading to the destruction of habitats, of homes and millions of people’s lives,’ he added, before encouraging others to join the organisation’s protests.

Frances Davis, 20, from Norwich, was also taken into custody this morning. She claims her arrest came less than 15 minutes after she started marching.

‘I’m under arrest for demanding the same thing as the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the United Nations and the government’s own scientific advisers have been demanding – and we’ve just been ignored,’ she said.

‘We’ve tried everything else and now I’m in handcuffs, just for going on a march.’

An activist is taken into custody in Bishopsgate after being issued a Public Order Act (Section 12) notice just minutes after the JSO demonstration set off

Activists from Just Stop Oil block traffic in Whitehall this morning

A protester is arrested in Bishopsgate this morning after a JSO oil demonstration was swiftly removed by City of London Police

A motorcyclist makes his way through JSO activists trying to block traffic in Whitehall in central London this morning

JSO, in what it describes as an ‘escalation of resistance from previous weeks’, descended on the capital around 8am today in 14 groups

Offices stopped and searched dozens of protesters this morning, the group claims. Demonstrators are pictured this morning in Westminster

JSO also claims that officers were following demonstrators on the tube this morning

The group reportedly plans on ‘shutting down the capital’ during their ‘biggest week of action yet’. Demonstrators are pictured during the protests this morning

The group reportedly plans on ‘shutting down the capital’ during their ‘biggest week of action yet’. In their week-long protest, they hope to interrupt traffic with their groups of slow-marchers until Saturday.

Louis Pilfold, 32, said she is marching this morning because ‘our children deserve lives as good as ours have been’.

‘They have done nothing to deserve the hardship of climate breakdown. It’s important that we engage with the reality of our predicament- that continued dumping of carbon into the atmosphere has put us in the midst of a human-made extinction event,’ the engineer, from Camden, said.

‘Scientists are warning that irreversible tipping points have already been triggered. We have to face up to the fact that the quickly destabilising climate will result in chaos – as we are starting to see. 

‘We also have to realise our leaders have zero intention of resolving this crisis, due to criminal corruption amongst other factors. Our children need us to move quickly from despair into action, that is why I’m marching and you should be too.’

An officer is seen taking a JSO protester into custody this morning

Protesters, in groups as small as five and large as 25, marched along key roads in central London as they carried placards reading ‘hottest June ever’ and ‘0 days since last wildfire’

Anne Taylor, 74, a retired teacher from Oxford, added that she was ‘terrified’ about her four grandchildren’s futures.

‘I simply have to do whatever I can. That’s why I am marching today with Just Stop Oil. I hate to disrupt other people’s lives. But life simply cannot continue as usual. We are sounding the alarm. This is an emergency. It’s happening right now,’ she said.

Ms Taylor claimed she would ‘rather be working on my allotment or in my garden’ but has taken to the streets because ‘we are in a climate crisis’ which she said the Secretary General of the United Nations describes as ‘out of control’.

‘I have four grandchildren. I am terrified for their future,’ she added.