Met Police arrest 16 more activists as part of large-scale operation to stop M25 disruption

Police have arrested a further 16 people in connection to the ongoing police operation to stop seriously disruption on the M25.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police arrested 16 activists on Tuesday as part of the joint operation with neighbouring forces including Essex Police, Surrey Police and Kent Police.

It came after a man ascended the overhead gantry at junction 14 of the M25 at 8am this morning (8 November).

This led to the road being closed, interrupting traffic and causing significant disruption around Heathrow.

Officers responded quickly, arriving on the scene at 8.10am and the man was removed and arrested 20 minutes later.

The man was taken into custody at a south London police station and by 08:46hrs, the road was reopened and traffic was moving.

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.”

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

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