One-third of southern gas stations have run out of fuel due to oil protests, a campaign group has claimed. The Fair Fuel UK campaign said it had “credible information” that one in three petrol stations in the south of England had run out of petrol and / or diesel due to the Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion protests. Just Stop Oil protesters have blocked access to Essex oil terminals, three oil terminals in Hertfordshire, Essex and Warwickshire, demanding that the government suspend new oil and gas projects. The government said only one terminal was closed on Sunday afternoon as a result of the action, with 338 arrests since the protests began on April 1 – and another 26 arrests are expected. It comes after more than 20 protesters arrived at Exolum Storage in Grace on Sunday morning. Police accused protesters for dangerous behavior. Assistant Chief of Police Glenn Pavelin said: “We can not remain indifferent while committing crimes and endangering lives in the name of protest. One in three gas stations reportedly closed due to protests (Image: Getty) “We are not against the protests. “Our job is to protect lives and catch criminals, and that is what we will do. “Today’s protest is extremely dangerous because of the location of the protesters inside the area.” At BP Kingsbury Terminal, the group dug a tunnel and punctured it, trying to evade police arrests, while 80 protesters flooded Buncefield and Grays Terminal and locked themselves inside.
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The team also claims to have dug a tunnel overnight under a major tanker route to BP Kingsbury Terminal in Warwickshire and hid its efforts with a caravan. “The tunnel was hidden by a modified caravan parked on the side of the road and surrounded by Just Stop Oil supporters,” they said in a statement. “Despite the number of police arrests, five people remain inside the caravan this morning working in the tunnel.” At 2.30am, 40 activists approached the gates of the Bansfield oil terminal, and further action followed at 6.30am. at the Inter terminals in Grace, Essex. Contact our news team by emailing us at [email protected] For more stories like this, check out our news page.
