Members of the public remove activists from the street during Saturday’s Just Stop Oil protest in London
Angry drivers removed Just Stop Oil protesters from a blocked road in central London on Saturday.
Activists sat on Charing Cross Road, Kensington High Street, Harleyford Street and Blackfriars Road, demanding the government stop licensing new oil.
Drivers left their cars on Harleyford Street to repel demonstrators, who kept coming back to reclaim their place on the road.
The Met Police said 33 protesters were arrested and roads were then reopened.
One motorist said during the protest: “We have asked you nicely, you are doing the wrong thing by blocking innocent people from doing their business.
“Can you move before we pick you up and move you?
“You stopped the wrong people, I have to go pick up my kids, I have to take my truck back to work. We can’t help you, go to Westminster.”
Just Stop Oil protesters block four streets in central London
Labor councilor Theresa Norton, 64, from Scarborough, came to support the protest, saying: “Half an hour’s interruption was no big sacrifice.
“It is these people who made the biggest sacrifices. They will be arrested, taken to police cells, put on trial on Monday.”
Just Stop Oil said the blocking came after four weeks of civil resistance, during which police have made 626 arrests.
Police made 33 arrests on Saturday
Speaking after the protest, Assistant Commissioner of Police Matt Twist said the Just Stop Oil protests had “caused a tremendous amount of disturbance and frustration among the public in London”.
He added: “We will always provide a proportionate police response to protests and try to work with organizers so protests can proceed safely.
“However, the public rightly expects us to respond quickly and effectively where cross-border protest becomes a crime.”
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