White van man tells Just Stop Oil protest exactly what he thinks

‘Get out of the road!’: White van man tells Just Stop Oil protesters exactly what he thinks of them as traffic speeds past their latest London slow-march protest

• Just Stop Oil is continuing is campaign of slow marches in central London 
• Police have been called to remove groups of protesters this morning 

Just Stop Oil has subjected frustrated commuters to another morning of traffic misery and delays after staging another slow march in central London.

The lobby group, which aims to pressure the government into abandoning fossil fuels once and for all, is partway through a six-week campaign of disruption in the capital.

The police has been called to stop slow marches in Blackfriars Road and Tower Bridge, as activists in groups of just four people forces cars into a grinding halt.

One man in a white van was filmed shouting ‘get out of the road’ as traffic sped past a gang of activists.    

Yesterday, Just Stop Oil protesters stormed the same Wimbledon court twice in a matter of hours to a chorus of boos from a frustrated crowd.

Police used a Section 12 Order to disperse a group of four Just Stop Oil activists protesting on Tower Bridge this morning

Just Stop Oil supporters were pictured slow-marching in central London this morning

The group are demanding that the government halts all new licences and consents for oil, gas and coal projects in the UK

The say their action was spurred on by the fact that the UK Government is signalling that it may not honour its commitments to essential climate funds

Simon Milner-Edwards, 66, from Manchester, and William Ward, 66, from Epsom, were met with groans from the crowd as they interrupted the Championships.

Milner-Edwards is a seasoned demonstrator who was previously jailed for his part in a protest outside Kingsbury Oil Depot.

He said: ‘I’m here for my grandchildren and everybody else’s. I’m not prepared to let our politicians wreck everything and leave the next generation to pick up the pieces.

This morning, policing minister Chris Philp agreed that fans could intervene in the way the England cricketer last week picked up a climate change activist and carried him off the field at Lord’s.

But he added that ‘nobody should do anything dangerous or hurt anyone’ – and insisted it was firstly the job of stewards and marshals to step in to deal with demonstrations. Mr Philp also said anyone who intervenes should be ‘reasonable’. He spoke out today after it was revealed the Government had told Wimbledon officials and police that they can ‘use force, without it being excessive and where appropriate’.

Officers can also treat Just Stop Oil protests as a sustained campaign rather than standalone demonstrations – meaning that action can be taken without giving them a warning.

The eco protesters stormed Court 18 twice yesterday while a summit of sporting bosses and police chiefs was taking place in Downing Street. Following the incidents which saw the activists throw orange confetti and jigsaw pieces onto the court, security looks set to be beefed up to prevent more incidents.

A Just Stop Oil protester is dragged off Court 18 at Wimbledon by security officials yesterday

A Just Stop Oil protester runs onto Court 18 and releases confetti at Wimbledon yesterday

A protester on Court 18 interrupts Katie Boulter’s match with Daria Saville yesterday

Fans arriving at the All England Club in South West London could now have to go through a more vigorous bag check when entering the grounds, and there could also be more security guards and police on show to protect the players and courts.

READ MORE Revealed: Just Stop Oil protesters who stopped Wimbledon match include 66-year-old ex-musician previously jailed for oil terminal demo and hunger striker who plays the trumpet

Jigsaws have also now been removed from sale in the onsite shop. It comes after an already high level of security for fans which has led to long queues.

Mr Philip was asked today whether he would be tempted to copy Bairstow’s actions at the Ashes, and replied: ‘It’s reasonable for people to try and protect the event that they are watching. Obviously, nobody should do anything dangerous or hurt anyone.’

Pressed further on whether anyone should lift protestors up and carry them away, he added: ‘There are marshals and there are stewards whose job it is to do that and of course the police are there as well. I would say let’s let the marshals and the stewards do their job.’

Mr Philp also said sporting bodies have been encouraged to use injunctions and hire more marshals and stewards to prevent disruptive protests.

He told Times Radio: ‘We’d like to see obviously those sporting organisations like Wimbledon increase the number of marshals and stewards. They have to be more careful about checking people coming into sporting events and react really quickly when something happens.’

He added that ministers ‘strongly encourage’ the use of injunctions, adding: ‘At the meeting yesterday we had with sporting leaders we encouraged the use of injunctions because that allows for a much more severe criminal penalty if the injunction gets breached.’

And a Government source told the Daily Telegraph: ‘Police and stewards should be able to use force, without it being excessive and where appropriate, to ensure that protesters do not spoil events that millions of law-abiding Britons have the right to enjoy without disruption.’

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