Eco protesters have been forcibly removed from the M25 after blocking the UK’s busiest motorway for the fifth time.
More than 30 activists from Insulate Britain descended onto the road at Junction 10 near Woking this morning.
A terrifying video shows members of the climate group running into moving traffic on a high-speed carriage lane, bringing traffic to a halt.
Police were seen tussling with the protesters as they desperately attempted to haul them back onto a slip road.
However, the activists managed to sprawl out across the lanes on both sides of the M25 between junctions 9 and 10.
Police said the roads have reopened after they cleared away activists, making 23 arrests.
It comes after public fury erupted when it emerged that a woman was left paralysed after suffering a stroke while stuck in a traffic jam caused by the group for six hours.
Tearing up, her son Chris told LBC: ‘I was there with my mother for six hours watching her slip away in front of my eyes, and I could do nothing.
‘When we got her to the hospital, the doctors said if we were to have gotten to them within 90 minutes, her symptoms, her recovery would have been minimal.
‘Because she had been left to endure a stroke for six hours she has got complete paralysis now down her left side.’
Protesters blocked the motorway three times last week and returned again on Monday, despite heavy criticism from police, politicians and drivers.
In an open letter to Priti Patel, the climate activists said they ‘profoundly apologise’ for disruption but refused to call off the campaign.
The group, an off-shoot of Extinction Rebellion, want the government to insulate Britain’s social homes and reduce carbon emissions.
They asked the Home Secretary for an ‘open dialogue’, warning ‘the collapse of the climate is happening around us and will soon get worse’.
Following the action earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticised protesters, saying they ‘detract from a very important moral mission’ widely shared by the nation.
He said the group do not do ‘any favours to their cause’ by repeatedly blocking key roads and the government is ‘taking powers’ to be able to remove protesters when they are threatening critical infrastructure or when they are threatening to cause serious economic damage.
However, spokesperson for the group, Liam Norton, said it was ‘frankly laughable’ that people would ‘suddenly decide insulating leaky homes is a bad idea as a result of our campaign’.
He added: ‘We are simply asking the government to get on the job. The people of Britain understand that climate change is a severe threat to everything they hold dear.’
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