Police arrest 35 after Just Stop Oil protest on major road

UK

Police have arrested 35 people after Just Stop Oil activists held up traffic on a major road in west London.

It came as members of the climate change group, which wants the government to stop issuing new oil and gas licences, slowly marched down Kensington’s West Cromwell Road on Wednesday morning.

Footage showed demonstrators wearing orange hi-vis vests and holding banners – while some drivers were heard blaring their horns.

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Pic: Just stop oil

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Activists in Kensington

The Met said officers arrived at the scene within four minutes and cleared the road in under half an hour.

The force said protesters were asked to leave the road and those that refused were arrested.

It comes only days after 62 people were arrested during a Just Stop Oil protest in London’s Parliament Square.

There were similar scenes on Wednesday as activists used the tactic of “going floppy” – by relaxing their arm and leg muscles to make it harder for police to remove them.

Just Stop Oil posted footage of the Kensington march on X, formerly Twitter, featuring an activist called Amy.

The 21-year-old said they were marching because “I feel like I don’t have a future”.

Read more from Sky News:
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JSO protesters spray orange paint on London’s Wellington Arch

The student added: “We need act now otherwise it’s completely over for us… We’ll be marching every day to demand no new oil, gas and coal for the UK government, because we can’t sit by anymore.”

The Met said in a statement that officers take into account “a person’s right to protest” before making an arrest.

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Just Stop Oil protesters spray orange paint on London’s Wellington Arch

But it added that if a protester “disproportionately interferes with road transport infrastructure” they can be detained under the Public Order Act.

Following the protest in Parliament Square on Monday, commander Kyle Gordon denounced the campaign group for causing disruption during an “extremely busy time” as officers try to “provide reassurance to communities” amid the Israel-Hamas war.

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