Eighteen climate change protesters have been arrested after they brought a motorway roundabout to a standstill this morning.
Demonstrators from campaign group Insulate Britain stationed themselves across the M25 network including at junction 20 for the A41 and Kings Langley.
At around 8am at junction 20, around 20 protesters sat themselves across the roundabout completely blocking access for drivers.
They waited for traffic lights to turn red before moving into the road, standing in front waiting drivers before sitting down. One woman held a banner that said 'Sorry to stop you'.
Drivers immediately began beeping their horns and video clips uploaded to social media show confrontations between drivers and the protesters - one man was filmed trying to drag one of the activists off the road.
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The situation was calmed down thanks to a large police presence.
Numerous police vehicles were parked on the eastern side of the roundabout behind the protesters with as many as 50 officers believed to be in attendance, as traffic piled up behind on the A41 and A4251.
At one point, the protesters did move out of the way to allow an ambulance on blue lights to travel through the scene and onto the A41 towards Watford.
Police confirmed the protesters were cleared at around 10.20am with Hertfordshire Constabulary confirming 18 arrests in connection with the protest at junction 20.
Insulate Britain has confirmed it is behind the protests, which have also been taking place in Kent and Surrey.
On the M25, believed to be near Heathrow, protesters sat themselves across six lanes on one side of the main carriageway.
The campaign group tweeted: "We are disrupting the M25. Why? We are demanding the government and @BorisJohnson create hundreds of thousands of jobs, lower our emissions, and save lives."
🚨We are disrupting the M25.🚨
— Insulate Britain (@InsulateLove) September 13, 2021
Why?
We are demanding the government and @BorisJohnson create hundreds of thousands of jobs, lower our emissions, and save lives.#getonwiththejob and #insulatebritain@10DowningStreet #M25 pic.twitter.com/gaeB7GLJfU
Eli Rose, from St Albans, who took part in the protest at junction 20, said: "We all know that the Government wants to 'Build Back Better'.
"What better way to do that, than to insulate our houses. That would massively reduce emissions and create hundreds of thousands of green jobs."
Insulate Britain has warned on its website this is "just the start", and "action will continue until the Government makes a meaningful commitment to insulate Britain’s 29 million leaky homes".
AA president Edmund King condemned the protest.
He said: "This action is not only incredibly dangerous in potentially putting lives at risk but it also backfires in environmental terms by causing more delays and more vehicle emissions.
"These are some of the busiest sections of the M25 where tens of thousands of drivers will have been affected and has a negative knock-on effect on economic activity."
Responding to today's scenes at junction 20, Superintendent Adam Willmot said: "We were called to reports of a protest at around 8am today (Monday 13 September) and quickly mobilised resources to the scene.
"The M25 was closed westbound at junction 20, resulting in congestion and delays on both the M25 and the A41.
"Protestors ignored police requests to move location, so we took robust action to enable roads to be reopened and to remove the protestors causing obstructions.
"Our officers dealt with the disruption as quickly as possible, reopening routes for local businesses and residents.
"The road closures were lifted by 10.20am."
Furious drivers clash with Insulate Britain climate protesters who blockaded slip roads near the M25 this morning https://t.co/JklfN9uirV pic.twitter.com/pFxq70ukYT
— LBC (@LBC) September 13, 2021
The protest caused major delays for drivers during the rush hour, especially on the A41 from Hemel Hempstead and the A4251 from Kings Langley.
The delays on these roads have now cleared.
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