The police made dozens of arrests as they cleared two London bridges of Extinction Rebellion protesters.
The last of the demonstrators were moved from Lambeth and Vauxhall bridges after blocking them from traffic for several hours with several protesters taken away in police vans.
The force tweeted: “Both demonstrations within the Vauxhall Area have now concluded and the roads have reopened.
“As a result of today’s policing operation we have made 38 arrests.”
Both demonstrations within the Vauxhall Area have now concluded and the roads have reopened.
— Metropolitan Police Events (@MetPoliceEvents) April 10, 2022
As a result of today’s policing operation we have made 38 arrests.
The Met earlier said officers were encouraging demonstrators to leave Lambeth Bridge, as the action was “causing serious disruption by blocking the bridge”.
It comes after hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Speakers’ Corner at Hyde Park before marching into the city centre and splitting up to “occupy” both Lambeth and Vauxhall bridges, where they prevented vehicles from crossing.
Crowds sat in the middle of the road, waving multicoloured flags bearing the group’s “extinction” symbol and placards that read “there is no planet B” and “we want to live” before the majority left the scene.
Met Police officers warned the remaining demonstrators they were causing “serious disruption” to the public and faced arrest.
Earlier, police said the protests had shut down both bridges, which are major traffic arteries across the Thames.
However, demonstrators allowed ambulances and fire engines to cross, with organisers parting the crowd by shouting “blue light”.
Activist and student Kiri Ley, 21, from Birmingham, said the group is occupying the capital peacefully in order to try and force the Government to make change when nothing else has worked.
She told the PA news agency: “I know that very often people will question our tactics about disruption for example, to ordinary people, stuff like roadblocks, like gluing on, locking on, and so on.
“What I would ask people, if you make that criticism, is what actually do you suggest that we do?
“We tried all the other methods – we’ve written letters, we’ve marched, we’ve spoken to our MPs, we’ve done literally everything we can and time and time again we see them doing completely the opposite of what the scientific evidence says and this is what is left to us, really, we do it because we know it works.”
Earlier, campaigners spray painted red hands outside the London corporate offices of oilfield services company Schlumberger.
It comes a day after some 8,000 protesters flooded the streets of London, according to Extinction Rebellion.
On the first day of mass action on Saturday, they blockaded roads around Oxford Circus and Trafalgar Square.
Extinction Rebellion has vowed to “block areas of the city for as long as possible” every day for at least a week, and on the next three weekends.
On Friday, two Extinction Rebellion protesters shut down Tower Bridge during the morning rush hour by abseiling off the sides of the landmark.
