UK climate change protests

Police say they have arrested 680 people in connection with Extinction Rebellion (XR) protests in London so far this month.

Thursday marked the final day of advertised protests for XR, which began on 1 September.

The Metropolitan Police Service said that the arrests covered a range of offences, including obstructing the highway, criminal damage and breaching the conditions set under Section 14 of the Public Order Act (1986).

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Commander Jane Connors, from the Met, said: "At the beginning of this period of protests we warned demonstrators that if they failed to comply with conditions in place that they may be liable to arrest."The public have a right to protest, but they do not have a right to cause disruption to the communities and businesses across London. That is why we took swift action to make a number of arrests.

"This has been a large policing operation and we will continue to investigate those who we suspect to have committed offences, so the number of arrests is likely to rise."

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Extinction Rebellion has held a series of protests across London.

Dozens of people from the environmental protest group gathered in Parliament Square, at the Woolwich Centre and in Richmond.

They called for environmental policies to be at the heart of the government's decisions as the country moves out of lockdown.

The Met Police said a small number of people had been arrested in relation to breaches of Covid-19 regulations and some Fixed Penalty Notices were issued.

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