Insulate Britain carry out double blockades on M4 and M1 motorways

Climate activists are blocking two separate motorways as their campaign of disruption continues.

Around 30 protesters are sitting in the road at junction three of the M4 near Heathrow and junction one of the M1 at Brent Cross, north London.

It’s the tenth time members of Insulate Britain have brought busy routes to a standstill in the last three weeks.

In a bid to make them harder to move, some of the activists have superglued their hands to the surface of the road and two men have fastened themselves to each other by putting intersecting bike locks around their necks.

The group has pledged to continue disrupting road networks until the government commits to retrofitting houses in order to reduce energy use and tackle fuel poverty.

Police officers were on the scene within minutes but there has been no word so far on arrests.

A High Court order obtained by the government – which can lead to unlimited fines and prison sentences of up to two years – prohibits the protesters from targeting the M25 or routes leading to the Port of Dover.

Insulate Britain said the demonstrators at today’s protests include eight people released from police custody on Thursday after defying the order to block the M25 at Junction 30 in Essex.

The the M4 junction is close to Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport (Picture:Reuters)

Police are already on the scene and will remove the campaigners by dragging them away (Picture: Reuters)

As with previous protests, some campaigners have superglued themselves to the road to make it harder for them to be removed (Picture: Reuters)

Two of the activists have put bike locks around their necks to make them harder to move (Picture: Reuters)

Officers are removing the protesters, who ‘go limp’ to make them difficult to move (Picture: Reuters)

Several of those arrested return to take part in later protests, according to Insulate Britain (Picture: Reuters)

A driver caught up in the huge backlog created by the group got out of her car to remonstrate with the activists (Picture: Reuters)

More than 300 arrests have been made but the group is undeterred, with many returning for the next sit-in shortly after being released.

Drivers caught up in long queues beeped their horns frustration but the campaigners did move to allow an ambulance through.

A spokesperson for the group said: ‘It’s incomprehensible that the government is continuing to delay action on home insulation when we urgently need to cut our carbon emissions, eliminate fuel poverty and help hard working families with their rising energy bills.

‘Added to which industry is crying out for the government to show some leadership and get behind a national retrofitting strategy. Come on Boris: get on with the job!’

This is a breaking news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.

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