Just Stop Oil cause fresh mayhem in London with third slow march in two days
Fury boiled over in London today as commuters faced another morning of mayhem and disruption after Just Stop Oil activists marched on the capital again - while police officers chuckled with the protesters. Irate Londoners lashed out at the eco-mob's latest slow-march - their third in just two days. One man confronted the climate change fanatics by tearing banners away from protesters and pushing them as tensions flared. Dressed in a white polo shirt and shorts, he appeared to shove protesters as they caused traffic chaos in Elephant and Castle, marching slowly in front of a lorry. 'Get out the f***ing way before you get run over,' he shouts before adding: 'Get out the f***ing way you p****s' as he apparently pushes a group of eco-zealots and then yanks an orange banner off another. More than a dozen protesters joined the demonstration in the capital this morning, with one activist among their ranks claiming to have been from Melbourne in Australia. Frustrated motorists could be heard beeping their horns and swearing at the campaigners, who forced traffic to grind to a halt. One stepped out of their car to hurl abuse at the group, as campaigners were pictured locking arms in defiance. While in another tense exchange, one lorry driver is heard saying: 'You can't stop oil, oil is in the Earth.' Today's mayhem began at Newington Causeway, in Elephant and Castle shortly after 8.45am, with campaigners calling for an end to all new oil, gas and coal projects in the UK. Escorted by about a dozen Metropolitan Police officers, the Just Stop Oil fanatics walked in the middle of the road holding orange banners and wearing hi-vis jackets as an ambulance is filmed struggling to get past them. Campaigners ignored pleas from one officer to shift their demonstration onto the pavement, as it triggered mayhem in the city centre, with buses passing perilously close to activists. While another officer was filmed chuckling with one of the activists as they walked backwards down the road. Pleading with activists as cars and buses pass perilously close, one female officer says: 'Can you please move on to the pavement. Move onto the pavement please, guys. 'Continue the protest but move onto the pavement.' Moments later, and an activist called Hannah is filmed giving a speech as she marches. The 21-year-old claimed to have lived in Melbourne - which is a 10,500-mile flight away from the British capital. She said: 'I'm from Melbourne, Australia. I have seen first hand the things that I love on fire. 'I have feared for my life and the lives of people that I love. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.' Protesters did briefly move off the road as an ambulance tore past with its blue lights on. But as soon as the emergency vehicle was past them, the defiant eco mob returned to causing chaos on the highway. In a statement released on Twitter about today's march, the Met said: 'As of 09:00, officers are quickly on scene at Just Stop Oil protesters slow walking in the road Newington Causeway, #ElephantandCastle. Officers are engaging with protesters and road users. Police later confirmed that they finally took action to disperse the group at 12.42pm, implementing a Section 12 banning order on the group after it reached Cannon Street in central London. 'The protesters have now moved out of the road, and the traffic is free-flowing,' the Met confirmed on Twitter this afternoon. The march is the latest in a four-week stint of concerted campaigning by the group, which saw about 25 activists taking part in two marches in the capital that caused carnage for motorists on Monday. It started at 8am district. The rush-hour demonstration caused carnage for commuters, with bumper-to-bumper traffic that triggered outrage from exasperated motorists. As the climate change campaigners slowly strolled through the city surrounded by about a dozen police officers, one white van driver vented his fury and bluntly demanded: 'Move them out the way, I've got money to make.' Police were scrambled shortly after 8.15am to break up the first march, as eco zealots strolled from the Barbican. The demonstration ended by 9.15am. A spokeswoman from the group told MailOnline: 'The Government is clamping down on our legitimate rights to protest. But we will not die quietly. We will continue to do whatever is nonviolently possible to end new oil and gas.' But the climate change group came under fire on Monday after it was revealed to protest against the use of fossil fuels in London. Ruth Lanser was one of 25 campaigners who caused chaos in the capital yesterday and and was slammed for journeying some 400 miles from Glasgow to join the protests. The campaigner, who claims to have studied at the School of Arts, was one of several Scots known to have made the trip south, with others including a grandmother-of-five from Fife. Ms Lanser, who was cleared in January of obstructing lawful activity after sitting on a lorry at a fuel depot in last year during another eco protest, was filmed leading a march through the City of London financial district. Armed with her megaphone, the eco-activist in her twenties shouted: 'I have travelled from Glasgow because my Government is not listening to me. 'We are looking at recent IPCC reports that tell us we are not on track to meet our goals and yet the Government is about to license a new oil project that is the equivalent of 28 lower-income countries' emissions. 'This project is called Rosebank and it is a death sentence to everyone on this planet.' She was joined by pensioner Julie Redman, 72, a grandmother-of-seven from Fife, Scotland - which is about 450 miles away from London. In a statement released by Just Stop Oil yesterday, the retired NHS worker added: 'I'm in despair about the climate crisis. It is accelerating at an alarming pace and yet our government is still giving out new licences for oil, gas and coal. 'It is my grandchildren who will bear the brunt of climate breakdown and I want to be able to tell them that I did everything I could to prevent climate catastrophe.' Just Stop Oil confirmed a number of campaigners had travelled from Scotland to take part in a 'week of protests' - but officials declined to comment on whether the activists had journeyed by car or public transport. People online have since blasted the group and accused zealots of making the cross-country trip to join the fossil fuel protest in petrol-guzzling cars. One Twitter user said: 'How did Ruth get from Glasgow to London? Did she walk?' Another asked: 'Wouldn't have been better for the environment if Ruth had done her march in Glasgow.' While a third quipped: 'She must have left before Christmas if she strolled all the way at that pace.' However, a spokeswoman for Just Stop Oil hit back, telling MailOnline: 'Why should they not travel from Scotland to protest in the capital about new oil and gas? 'It is the UK Government, not the Scottish Government, that has the power to make the decision to end new oil and gas. 'Our supporters from Scotland have the same rights as everyone else living in the UK to resist the Government's genocidal plans.' Others took aim at the number of people involved in today's rally, with Jamie MacDonald saying: '26 People. Smashing it guys. Think your beginning to blend into the background now, this daily approach isn't working.' A third protester, named only as 'Kat', aged 20, also travelled from Scotland to march in London. In a video released on social media, she said: 'I'm here because I realised that my inaction was going to make me completely unable to live with myself... the climate crisis was getting worse and I was sitting there thinking 'that someone else would do something about it' and I realised that no-one else was going to change this.' This week's protests echoed a similar one on Friday, where activists marched through Cromwell Street, Kensington - , who demanded one eco-fanatic 'get off the road'. And on Saturday, Just Stop Oil supporters took part in another demonstration in Parliament Square, near the House of Commons. Campaigners marched through Whitehall and gathered outside the BBC HQ as part of a rally in support of Palestine, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Since February 2022, Just Stop Oil claimed its activists have been arrested more than 2,100 times, with 138 protesters spending time in prison. Just Stop Oil is due to stage another rally in London, outside the House of Commons, on Saturday from midday.