PRESS RELEASE : Further 16 activists arrested as police tackle unacceptable motorway disruption [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Met Police on 8 November 2022.

Officers from the Met and neighbouring forces have arrested 16 activists as part of an ongoing proactive operation to tackle efforts to seriously disrupt the M25.

At 08:00hrs on Tuesday, a man climbed onto the overhead gantry at junction 14 of the M25. This reckless action led to the road being closed, interrupting traffic and causing significant disruption around Heathrow.

Officers responded quickly, arriving on the scene at 08:10hrs.

By 08:30hrs, the man was removed and arrested. He was taken into custody at a south London police station. By 08:46hrs, the road was reopened and traffic was moving.

A total of 16 activists were arrested on Tuesday as part of the joint operation with neighbouring forces including Essex Police, Surrey Police and Kent Police.

Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: “The Met, in a joint operation with neighbouring police forces, has again responded swiftly and robustly to today’s attempts by Just Stop Oil activists to disrupt the M25.

“We are all absolutely committed to providing a quick and effective response to those activists who continue to significantly disrupt people’s daily lives.

“Operations like these come at a cost. Since the start of October we have used more than 11,000 officer shifts to police Just Stop Oil protests. These are officers who would otherwise be dealing with issues that matter to local communities such as knife crime, safeguarding and responding to burglaries.

“We are determined to bring to justice all those who conspire to cause significant and unreasonable disruption to London and the motorway network and we’ll work closely with the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts to make sure this happens.”

22 people have already been charged as part of this ongoing operation.