Fifth day of M25 protest mayhem

Invasion: protesters force the closure of the M25 again today after they ran onto the motorway between junctions nine and 10 near Woking

ENVIRONMENTAL protesters dramatically stepped up their protests today by dashing into moving rush hour traffic on the M25.

Footage showed Insulate Britain demonstrators entering the motorway between junctions 9 and 10 for Woking at about 8am, forcing drivers to slam on their brakes. They sat down in the road and unfurled banners, causing long delays in both directions.

It was the fifth time Britain’s busiest motorway has been targeted in just over a week.

Insulate Britain claimed “new people” joined this morning’s protest along with some who have participated in similar demonstrations in Hertfordshire, Kent, Essex and Surrey.

The latest protest involved around 25 protesters, split between each side of the eight-lane motorway.

Video showed one group running out into the road, before sitting down and bringing traffic to a halt.

The other group then did the same on the other carriageway, with drivers having to brake to avoid a collision.

Surrey Police said they had made 23 arrests after dragging the protesters out of the road.

They said: “Two lanes on both clockwise and anticlockwise carriageways of the M25 between junctions 9 and 10 are now fully re-opened after officers cleared all of the Insulate Britain protesters off the road. 23 arrests have been made.”

The campaigning group said the recent rise in gas and electricity costs has “increased the urgency” for change and they would end their campaign as soon as they get a “meaningful commitment” to their demands.

Spokesperson Liam Norton said: “The idea that people would suddenly decide insulating our leaky homes is a bad idea as a result of our campaign is frankly laughable. We are simply asking the Government to get on with the job. The people of Britain understand that climate change is a severe threat to everything they hold dear.”

Boris Johnson says he is in favour of tough action on climate change but added: “I don’t think these people do any favours to their cause. I think that what they do is detract from a very important moral mission that is widely shared by the people of this country.”