A High Court order which aims to prevent protesters from disrupting Britain’s busiest motorway has been extended.
National Highways obtained the injunction covering the M25 and several feeder roads last May, and Mr Justice Cotter approved its application for it to continue for a further year on Friday.
The order means that anyone who blocks the roads or fixes themselves to gantries above them can be found in contempt of court and face imprisonment, the seizure of assets, and an unlimited fine.
Some 139 environmental protesters are named in the order, but it also applies to “persons unknown causing the blocking of, or endangering, or otherwise preventing the free flow of traffic” on the specified highways.
Along with the M25, which encircles Greater London, the order also covers major roads in Kent including routes leading to the Port of Dover.
National Highways said the M25 is used by up to 200,000 vehicles each day and is a “vital link to the rest of England’s road network”, while Dover is the busiest port in the country and a major trade route with Europe.
The Government agency said it applied for the injunction extension over concerns that Just Stop Oil will target these roads again.
Tim Reardon, National Highways’ general counsel, said: “Millions of people rely on the strategic road network every day and they have a right to expect it to operate as it should.
“We are really pleased to have obtained an extension to this injunction, so anyone intending to protest on the M25, its feeder routes and main roads around the Port of Dover – in additional to structures on the M25 – will run the risk of imprisonment, an unlimited fine or a seizure of assets, or a combination of all three.”
