A lorry crashed and a police officer was injured when eco-protesters targeted the M25 for the third day running. About 10 Just Stop Oil supporters climbed over the busy highway despite the arrests on Monday and Tuesday. A police officer was injured when a truck crashed into a barricade that had been set up when the protest began earlier this morning. The collision caused a partial road closure between J26 and J27, adding to rush hour misery for commuters. A picture from the scene showed debris on the road and a pile-up involving three large vehicles. Essex Police said the “rolling barricade” was necessary “due to a person in the road” but “resulted in one of our officers being hit and injured”. Chief Inspector Simon Anslow said: “One of our officers was injured while working to help resolve this situation. An image taken by police at the scene showed the aftermath of a serious collision at a barricade (Image: Essex Police) To view this video, please enable JavaScript and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video “Our road policing officers are dedicated, specialist officers who come to work to serve the public and keep you safe on our roads. They do this tirelessly, day after day. “Unfortunately, this morning one of these fantastic officers was injured while performing this task. My thoughts are with them and their family.’ Officers were also at J30 of the M25 where a Just Stop Oil protester had scaled a bridge and another stopped before fixing it. Surrey Police also said a protester was on a bridge near junction 8 on the motorway. The road, which runs around Greater London, is the busiest in the UK and tens of thousands of cars use it every rush hour. It is unclear when the group plans to end the controversial M25 campaign (Picture: Story Picture Agency) To view this video, please enable JavaScript and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Just Stop Oil is demanding the government stop issuing new oil and gas drilling permits to tackle climate change. Over 32 days of protests between September and October, the Metropolitan Police say their officers arrested 677 members of the group, 111 of whom were charged. Just Stop Oil claims its supporters have been arrested nearly 2,000 times since they began their activities on April 1, and five are currently in jail. A statement from the group read: “From 6.30am this morning around 10 Just Stop Oil supporters climbed onto the M25 flyovers at several locations, clockwise and anti-clockwise, forcing police to stop traffic. Traffic had to stop as a protester hung from a bridge on Tuesday (Image: Just Stop Oil) “Animal Rebellion supporters have joined to disrupt traffic on London’s Orbital motorway”. The Metropolitan Police said on Twitter: “We stand ready to respond to any protest activity on the M25 with partner forces again today. “We know this disruption is incredibly frustrating for the public. “We will act as quickly as possible to remove any people who intend to block the road and get traffic moving again.” Do you have a story? Contact our news team by emailing us at [email protected] Or you can submit your videos and photos here. For more stories like this, check out our news page. Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. Now you can also receive Metro.co.uk articles direct to your device. Sign up for our daily push notifications here.
