London braced for more chaos as eco-protest bill hits £15m

POLICE were today braced for yet more Just Stop Oil protests in London as it was revealed previous action by the ecoactivists cost the Metropolitan force more than £15 million over 12 months.

- Rachael Burford

About 100 activists have already been arrested this week as the group began a three-week campaign, which they claim will cause disruption on an "unprecedented scale".

The militants have "committed" to being arrested five times each amid a huge round of slow marching on London's roads. The latest action comes as the Met also has to police huge protests in central London over the Israel-Hamas war, putting further pressure on its budget.

Action by the group between April to June this year, which saw major roads in the capital blocked by slow marchers who also glued themselves to the road surface, cost Scotland Yard £7.7 million.

Previous large-scale action cost it £7.5 million between October and December last year.

The protesters ran training sessions for new recruits over the summer to take part in the latest series of demonstrations rallying against the Government's plan to issue hundreds of new North Sea oil and gas licences.