The Metropolitan Police are dealing with protestors as they build a pink structure, blocking the road off at Oxford Circus in London.
Crowds continue to gather as Police try to "shut down" the protest, according to a tweet from Extinction Rebellion UK.
🌞♀ CALLING ALL REBELS!!! ♀🌞
— Extinction Rebellion UK 🌍 (@XRebellionUK) August 25, 2021
Oxford Circus is being held by XR women & FINT, and EVERYONE is welcome.
London, come and join the #CrisisTalks the UK government and @metpoliceuk are attempting to shut down.#ActNow #DemandTheImpossible#ExtinctionRebellion pic.twitter.com/ngvB2Bb80O
Police previously dismantled a giant pink table that was put in the middle of a central London street by environmental campaign group, Extinction Rebellion (XR).
During the second day of the group’s 12-day mass protest, parts of the four-metre table were carried away by men in hard hats and blue overalls on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, the Metropolitan Police said officers had also removed chairs which the activists had glued themselves onto. “Many arrests” were made by the police.
A spokesman for the force didn’t give a running total of arrest numbers but said 52 people had been detained for a “variety” of offences as of 10.15pm on Monday.
In Covent Garden, a tourist hotspot in the capital, a cordon was put in place which meant parts of the Long Acre junction with Upper St Martin’s Lane were blocked off.
Activists set up the large pink structure, with the words “come to the table,” on Monday.
It had built-in lock-ons, allowing protesters to attach themselves to it in order to make it difficult for police to remove them. It also had sleeping quarters and a stereo system.
Some demonstrators were seen standing on top of the table while setting off and waving pink-coloured flares.
XR started its Impossible Rebellion protests on Monday when demonstrators blocked roads in central London, including around Trafalgar Square.
The group wants the Government to agree to stop all new fossil fuel investment immediately and it says until that happens the disruption will continue.
The Metropolitan Police said a “significant” operation would be arranged to manage the protests over the busy bank holiday weekend but acknowledged the activists’ “important cause.”
1/2. Officers have intervened when protestors were building a structure at #OxfordCircus.
— Metropolitan Police Events (@MetPoliceEvents) August 25, 2021
Some individuals have glued themselves to the structure, specialist officers are working to support their removal.
Tweets posted by the Met Police today (Wednesday) suggest the protestors are still trying to glue themselves to the structure.
2/2. There will be some disruption to traffic in the area as roads are currently blocked, which we are working to reduce.
— Metropolitan Police Events (@MetPoliceEvents) August 25, 2021
In a second tweet today, the force said they are working to reduce disruption causing the road to be blocked.
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