'I've got two dissertations to write but climate change is now' Welsh campaigners join Extinction Rebellion protests

Protestors in Wales have joined thousands of climate change activists in London for as part of a week-long demonstration.

Activists are targeting central locations around London to demand the Government declare a climate emergency.

Waterloo Bridge has been blocked by demonstrators for five days despite the Metropolitan Police making more than 570 arrests.

Protestors are photographed staging a sit-in around a pink boat at Oxford Circus

Ten people had been charged by the force by Thursday night and three others arrested by British Transport Police were remanded in custody after they appeared in court accused of obstructing trains at Canary Wharf.

The Met said: “The protesters are using tactics of lying on the ground when approached. This means that it takes at least four officers to remove one person to ensure their safety which is resource intensive.”

A protestor is carried away by police officers on Waterloo Bridge Credit: PA Images

Routes are also blocked around Parliament Square and Marble Arch, and Home Secretary Sajid Javid has urged police to use the “full force of the law”.

Actress Emma Thompson has joined in the protests in central London Credit: PA Images

Asked why she was taking part, Staci Sylvan, 40, mother of two from Carmarthen said, "I'm here because of Governmental inaction on climate change. I'm here for my seven and twelve year old because I want them to live in a world with clean air, plenty of food and an extravagance of wild nature."

Katie, 22, a student from Cardiff said, "I wouldn't be here if I didn't think it was important. I've got two dissertations to write but climate change is now. It's for our children but it's also for the people around the world already dealing with its consequences."

A small group of between 15 and 20 people, staged a climate change protest at Heathrow Airport on Friday morning.

Activists stage climate change protest at Heathrow Airport Credit: ITV News

  • What does the group want?

Extinction Rebellion (XR) says direct action is needed to force governments to act urgently on climate change and wildlife declines and halt a “sixth mass extinction”.

It is calling for an ecological emergency to be declared, greenhouse gases to be brought to net zero by 2025, and the creation of a citizens’ assembly to lead action on the environment.