Just Stop Oil protesters target M25 for fourth day - as police warn it's a 'matter of time' before someone gets killed
The actions of Just Stop Oil protesters are "criminal, reckless and dangerous" and must not be tolerated any longer, a police chief has warned as demonstrations on the M25 entered their fourth day.
Activists from the group have been demonstrating on the UK's busiest motorway on and off for weeks, causing junctions to be closed and travel chaos for motorists.
Speaking to Sky News, Essex Police Chief Constable BJ Harrington warned that their actions are "unlawful" and "dangerous".
"No protest activity should or can be in a position where it puts lives at risk - their lives, the lives of the public on the roads, and my officers," he said.
His warning comes after a police officer was injured in a crash with two lorries while responding to protests on the motorway on Wednesday.
While his injuries were only minor, CC Harrington said this was thanks to his protective equipment and could have been worse, and it is "only a matter of time" before someone gets killed.
"There is a lot of sympathy for Just Stop Oil in terms of what they are trying to achieve. But putting people's lives in danger, themselves, the public and my officers, is just not acceptable, and they have got to stop doing it," he said.
Multiple arrests on Britain's busiest motorway
Earlier on Thursday, the force said officers had arrested a woman who was trying to climb a gantry around 1.5 miles from Junction 28 clockwise.
"One lane was closed for a short time as officers responded to the situation," the force said.
The Metropolitan Police said: "We're ready to respond to any criminality on the M25 again today and will work quickly to minimise disruption and keep traffic moving."
It added it was removing a person from a gantry near Junction 25 and that an individual was arrested for causing a public nuisance.
Kent Police said its officers are continuing to assist other forces in responding to any offences and disruptions elsewhere.
The force also arrested five people on Thursday after a suspicious vehicle was stopped on the M25 in Westerham.
Officers on patrol searched the car and seized climbing equipment including harnesses, D-locks and banners.
Two women aged 20 and 21, and three men aged 50, 45 and 18 were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance.
Reports on social media suggested there was a protest between Junctions 15 and 16, near Heathrow Airport.
Just Stop Oil said its supporters climbed gantries "in multiple locations" from 6.30am on Thursday.
Read more:
Who are Just Stop Oil - the climate activists who keep causing disruption?
'We are hurtling towards climate catastrophe'
Just Stop Oil demonstrator Phoebe Plummer, a 21-year-old student from London, said: "I understand people must be frustrated with us, and rightly so.
"But we have to disrupt daily life because we are hurtling towards climate catastrophe, yet the government continues to betray me, my generation and people in the global south by issuing new oil licences."
Just Stop Oil staged 32 days of disruption from the end of September and throughout October, resulting in 677 arrests and 111 people charged, with Met Police officers working a total of 9,438 additional shifts.
National Highways subsequently secured a High Court injunction to prevent Just Stop Oil protesters from disrupting England's busiest motorway.
Essex Police said it had charged three people following Just Stop Oil protests at multiple junctions on the M25 on Wednesday.
The force said Daniel Johnson, 24, of Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross; Paul Bell, 20, of St Germans Road, Exeter; and Theresa Higginson, 24, of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, have all been charged with causing a public nuisance and have been remanded in custody.
They will appear at Basildon Magistrates' Court via video link later today.
