The Just Stop Oil (JSO) protests which resulted in only 86 arrests in six weeks has cost the Metropolitan Police a staggering £4.6 million, which is on top of the £7.5 million spent between October and December last year.
JSO have been holding protests every day causing a “significant impact” which has been “very frustrating for the public” which has seen people take matters into “their own hands.”
The protesters have pledged to continue indefinitely unless the government stops providing new licences for oil & gas, which is highly unlikely.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said: “In deploying the new tactics of moving slowly in front of traffic along highways, Just Stop Oil’s intent has been clear on disrupting road users.
“This has caused significant impact to the public and officers have been responding as swiftly as possible once aware of the incidents.”
Just 86 people have been arrested and only 49 were charged by the Met police.
Adelekan added: “We know that this action has been very frustrating for the public who just want to carry on with their day-to-day business.
“We would urge the public not to intervene or take matters into their own hands, but to call the police, let us know where the incident is and we will get to the scene quickly.
“It may look like we are not responding quickly enough, however policing protests is complex and there are steps officers must take to make sure our response is lawful and appropriate.
“You can see from both the arrest and charge figures that we are taking this operation very seriously, and once a protest is deemed to have caused serious disruption or may do so, we are taking swift action to stop it.”
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