'I have to go to hospital': Furious drivers drag Just Stop Oil activists from roads on ninth day of London protests

9 October 2022, 19:11 | Updated: 10 October 2022, 05:54

Frustrated motorists have been getting out of their vans to drag Just Stop Oil activists out of the road as the eco-protest group stops London traffic for the ninth day in a row.

Orange-bibbed protesters rallying against the continued use of oil and gas were blockading roads around Westminster when some drivers decided to take matters into their own hands.

In one video taken today, one man could be heard pleading: "I have to go to hospital for an appointment, I'm deaf, let me get on with my life and stop interfering with us."

As another man drags a protester across the floor, a woman shouts: "Oh my god, you're hurting him, stop it", to which the man snaps back: "Get off the f****ing road then."

In a separate clip, the man with a hearing aid appeals to the crowd, accusing the eco-warriors of "inconveniencing and opposing their will on others".

He says: "Where's the police? What are we paying our taxes for? To have our lives inconvenienced by these idiots. This is wrong."

Meanwhile in Piccadilly Circus, one protester clambered on top of a police van and glued his hands to the roof of a police van, while two other activists chained their heads together with a bike lock as they sat in the road.

Just Stop Oil shared a video taken in Regent Street yesterday showing furious van drivers shoving and dragging protesters out of the way with force.

The campaign group tweeted: "Yesterday, a group of Just Stop Oil supporters remained resolutely nonviolent when confronted by the understandably frustrated members of the public.

"One supporter required emergency medical treatment due to having been removed from the road by a member of the public.

"The disruption will end when the Government makes a statement that it will halt all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK. Meet at 11 am outside Downing St. every day of October to Occupy Westminster."

The Metropolitan Police said it has arrested 45 people for obstruction the highway in Piccadilly today. Yesterday it took 24 into custody for similar offences in Marylebone Road.

The Metropolitan Police said it has arrested 45 people for obstruction the highway in Piccadilly today. Yesterday it took 24 into custody for similar offences in Marylebone Road.

Yesterday protesters from the vegan Animal Rebellion protest group vandalised hunting shops with paint as "hundreds of fellow campaigners protested in central London on Saturday to demand a “plant-based future”.

Campaigners poured red paint inside Farlows, a hunting and fishing shop on Pall Mall, and daubed paint on the windows of William Evans, a shooting supply shop in nearby St James’s Street, while others took and emptied milk from supermarkets.

The group, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, describes itself as a “mass movement using non-violent civil disobedience to call for a just, sustainable plant-based food system”.

After putting out a message “calling all vegans to occupy London”, AR said protesters brought London’s West End “to a standstill” as people marched from Green Park to Piccadilly Circus.

A Government spokesperson said: “The right to protest is a fundamental principle of our democracy, but actions of this nature do not encourage sensible debate.

“We are supporting our Great British farmers to ensure that well-managed livestock provides environmental benefits such as supporting biodiversity, protecting the character of the countryside and generating important income for rural communities.”