Just Stop Oil: Protesters occupying top of Queen Elizabeth II bridge of Dartford Crossing

The activists have vowed to stay on top of the Queen Elizabeth II bridge until they are removed.
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Activists from the protest group Just Stop Oil have attached themselves to the cabling atop the Queen Elizabeth II bridge - forcing authorities to close the M25.

This will be the second day in a row that the protesters have forced the Queen Elizabeth II bridge to be closed. Currently, it is unclear when the bridge will be declared safe to open again.

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The bridge, which is part of Dartford Crossing, is a busy road for commuters - it’s the only way they can cross the Thames from the east of London. On Monday, the closure of the bridge caused traffic jams up to six miles long, according to National Highways on Twitter.

The protesters initially scaled the bridge at around 3am on Monday, with the police being alerted to the situation at 3:50am. At the time of writing, they have been on top of the Queen Elizabeth II bridge for over 24 hours.

One of the protesters, Megan Trowland, said: “As a professional civil engineer, each year as I renew my registration, I commit to acting within our code of ethics, which requires me to safeguard human life and welfare and the environment.

“Our government has enacted suicidal laws to accelerate oil production: killing human life and destroying our environment.

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“I can’t challenge this madness in my desk job, designing bridges, so I’m taking direct action, occupying the QE2 bridge until the government stops all new oil.”

A spokesperson for Essex Police said: “The bridge has been closed while we resolve the incident which we will do as quickly and as safely for all involved.

“It does mean that we have had to close the bridge to traffic, but a diversion is going to be put in place through the tunnel. This is likely to cause delays throughout this morning and this incident may take some time to resolve due to the complexities of safely getting people down from height.”