Warwickshire police said there had been 34 arrests over the weekend in connection with protests at Kingsbury’s gas station, where protesters have been tunneled down a main access road. Two of the environmental activists – Nathan McGovern, 22, and Louis McKechnie, 21 – posted a video in which they say they were chained to pipes at the Grays oil depot for more than a day and as a result inhaled asbestos. “We’ve been here for over 30 hours, we haven’t slept, we didn’t feel safe, we had a panic attack a while ago, it’s really uncomfortable,” McKechnie said. Ministers hope to mimic their ultimate success against Insulate Britain, which has led protesters to jail for violating a national order introduced by the government. Rachel Nolan, Essex’s assistant chief warden, said: “Anyone present at any location who wants to hold a peaceful protest in public will be allowed to do so in a responsible, respectful and effective manner. “But we are dealing with people entering forbidden areas holding flammable chemicals, endangering themselves and others and it is completely unacceptable.” The force said that the police demonstrations in Thurrock cost the Essex police “over 1 million pounds”. At the same time, campaigners also urged the Network Rail and Transport for London to “carry out” their plan for crackers to upgrade parts of the network during the busiest weekend since the pandemic began. Network Rail performs 530 upgrades on bank holidays over the weekend, including HS2 projects in London Euston.
