Furious drivers demanded action as eco-protesters blocked a major road in central London on Tuesday morning and the Dartford Crossing was gridlocked for a second day.
Just Stop Oil staged a sit-down demonstration on the A4 outside Baron’s Court Tube at 7.30am in the 18th consecutive day of disruption.
Activists glued themselves to the tarmac and locked on to each other.
Metropolitan Police officers made 26 arrests for obstructing the highway after specialists were videoed removing them. They also tried to calm irate motorists whose rush-hour commute was ruined.
Some stuck in the chaos near the Hammersmith flyover called them “clowns” and told them “to get jobs”. The road was reopened in both directions by 9.30am.
“Britain doesn’t give in to terrorism,” said Andrew Styles.
Activist Phil Snider, 37, a delivery driver from Southampton, said: “I’m doing this so I can look my children in the eye and say I did all I could.
“Climate disasters make me angry, governments have not done a thing for 30 years when they knew it was coming.”
Morgan Trowland and London teacher Marcus, 33, are suspended in makeshift hammocks 275ft up.
Police officers are so far making no attempts to drag them down due to safety concerns.
The A282, linking Essex and Kent, is the only way to cross the Thames east of London by road. It connects directly at both ends with the M25 London orbital motorway, one of the busiest in Europe.
Mr Trowland, a 39-year-old bridge design engineer from London, said in a video this morning: “We’ve just survived the first night up here. I was pretty cold and didn’t sleep much. But I’m ok.”
Essex Police added the incident could take “some time to resolve due to the complexities of safely getting people down from height”.
Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington told the BBC: “It is a really dangerous and difficult environment.
“I think they’re crazy. I’m really frustrated.”
Extinction Rebellion hit back on Twitter, replying: “Now you know how we feel when the government talks about fracking & new fossil fuels.”
National Highways said it has no estimation of when the bridge will reopen.
