JustStopOil activists climb Dartford Bridge causing police to CLOSE Thames crossing at height of rush-hour: Drivers’ fury as M25 becomes a ‘car park’ as officers try to coax down pair of eco protesters

• Police have closed the Dartford Crossing after two people climbed the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at 3.50am
• Essex Police says it is dealing with them ‘as quickly and as safely’ as possible, but there are long delays
• A filmmaker who has worked with Just Stop Oil says the pair are supporters of the environmental group 

Just Stop Oil activists have climbed the Dartford Bridge, causing police to close the Thames crossing at the height of rush-hour.

Furious drivers say the M25 has become a ‘car park’ as they are stuck in traffic while officers try to coax down a pair of eco-protesters who scaled the girders this morning.

Essex Police says it closed the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Essex and Kent, to all traffic after the eco-zealots were spotted climbing shortly before 3.50am.

According to Rich Felgate, a documentary maker who has been filming the group’s recent protests, two of its supporters climbed up this morning ‘shutting down the entire bridge and blocking oil tankers from oil terminals in Essex traveling south’.

It is latest in a series of protests by the environmentalist group, which has launched demonstrations in London over the last few weeks.

Yesterday protesters sprayed orange paint over an Aston Martin garage in the capital, and blocked roads as they continue to demand an end to new oil and gas projects.

The pair have been seen on the girders of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at the Dartford Crossing this morning

The bridge has been closed by police while they try to coax the pair down

The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at the Dartford Crossing has been closed this morning after two people were spotted climbing on the girders

This morning’s incident is causing long delays, with reports of people having to wait an hour in queues of up to three miles long at 6am.

The force said colleagues at National Highways are escorting traffic through the Dartford Tunnel in a bid to alleviate the impact of the road closure.

Traffic is also being impacted by the closure of the Blackwell Tunnel, which has been closed northbound this morning after a collision.

Essex Police says it is trying to resolve the incident ‘as quickly and as safely’ as possible, although it is still likely to cause big delays into rush-hour. 

‘The bridge has been closed while we resolve the incident which we will do as quickly and as safely for all involved,’ the force said on Monday.

‘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.’

The force later added: ‘Our colleagues from National Highways South East have now began escorting traffic through the tunnel. It currently believes there are delays of around 60 minutes. We appreciate your patience and understanding.’

National Highways East wrote on Twitter that there were ’60 minute delays with 3 miles of congestion on the approach’.

The crossing is currently the only way to cross the River Thames by road east of London, with the A282 running over the bridge. 

The 2.8km-long (1.7 mile) QEII bridge southbound, and two 1.4km-long (0.8 mile) tunnels northbound link Essex and Kent.

The A282 also connects directly at both ends with the M25 London Orbital Motorway, one of the busiest motorways in Europe.

More to follow…

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