Eco protesters try to scale Downing Street gates before blocking off Trafalgar Square as disruption campaign rumbles on

1 November 2022, 14:17 | Updated: 1 November 2022, 14:21

Eco activists tried to scale the Downing Street fence before blocking off a busy road by Trafalgar Square.

Police hauled down a protester who tried to scale the gates to the Prime Minister's residence, while other activists tried to glue themselves to the ground.

Just Stop Oil members kept up their campaign of disruption by stopping traffic on the busy road in front of Nelson's Column, bringing buses and traffic to a halt.

They held up banners to drivers after bringing the hustle and bustle to a stop.

The Metropolitan Police said it is "aware of protesters blocking the road by Trafalgar Square".

"Officers were rapidly on the scene and are dealing," the force added.

Earlier on Tuesday, they demonstrated outside Downing Street, with some protesters jumping over the small fence in front of the gates to the road as armed police confronted them.

Read more: Eco mob targets MI5 as fight breaks out when protester tries to coat high-security HQ in orange paint

The activists said on Twitter: "At 11:15 this morning, 22 Just Stop Oil supporters swarmed towards the gates of Downing St.

"A number of them attempted to scale the gates while others sat down in the road to block the entrance, with some gluing their hands to the tarmac.

"They are demanding that the Govt halt all new oil & gas licenses.

"The action today follows the announcement by BP of a bumper profit of £7bn for the last quarter alone, while it expects to pay only £700m in windfall tax on its North Sea operations for the whole year."

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said: "Rishi Sunak is about to U-turn on attending COP27. We demand that he also U-turns on new oil and gas. This genocidal policy will kill millions of people while failing to address the worst cost of living crisis this country has ever seen.

"It's time for a serious windfall tax on big oil, without the get-out-of-jail-free tax credits that will encourage more oil and gas that we cannot afford.

"Vulnerable people will be freezing to death in their homes this winter, unable to afford a can of soup while his Government refuse to tax the rich and the big energy companies that are profiting from our misery. We are not prepared to stand by and watch while everything we love is destroyed."

It is the latest part of their campaign in London which has seen the group target high-security and high-profile places.

On Monday, they turned their sights on MI5, the intelligence agency responsible for domestic security, coating its Westminster HQ in orange paint.

They also managed to target the Home Office, the Bank of England building and News Corp headquarters at London Bridge.