ANGRY families have been forced to step over eco idiots blocking departure gates at Gatwick today.
Seven Just Stop Oil activists entered the airport’s southern terminal at around 8am, the group had said – with pictures showing holidaymakers clambering past them.
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The airport has since confirmed the nuisance group have all been arrested.
Images – including those shared on the group’s website – appear to show the activists sitting on the floor inside the airport in front of the terminal entrance.
The protesters – in ‘Just Stop Oil’ t-shirts – also had orange boxes and signs saying “Oil kills” and “sign the treaty”.
A London Gatwick spokesman said: “London Gatwick is open and operating normally today.
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“There are a small number of protesters at the airport who have now been arrested and are being removed from the airport.”
It comes amid a campaign by the group to target airports and disrupt the travel industry after steering its focus away from blocking roads.
“This summer, areas of key importance to the fossil fuel economy will be declared sites of civil resistance around the world,” the group added today.
Mel Carrington, 63, a mother and former environmental consultant from Dorset, and Greg Sculthorpe, a mathematician from Doncaster, were said to be among the activists involved.
Earlier this month, Gatwick became the latest major airport to secure a High Court injunction in an attempt to stop would-be environmental activists trespassing on its land after receiving police intelligence over protest plans.
Timothy Morshead KC, representing Gatwick at the hearing, said such action could cause “severe disruption and financial loss” and “significant delays for passengers”.
Last week saw several Just Stop Oil members arrested in multiple countries in a crackdown on their holidays plot.
The eco-zealots had billed July 23 as an “international uprising” by seven groups under the banner “Oil Kills”.
But it ground to a halt after a series of police swoops.
In the aftermath, there were demands for authorities to throw the book at them to prevent a possible summer of chaos.
Seven protesters were led away in handcuffs from Heathrow before they could make it on to a runway. Three others were arrested at other locations.
Airport chiefs said there was “no impact on operations whatsoever”.
The group, seen on bikes at the perimeter fence, were held at 9am under the Public Order Act on suspicion of conspiring to interfere with a site of key national infrastructure.
Cutting gear and glue were found.
Other arrests came in Germany, Norway, Finland, Spain, Austria and Switzerland.
The drama unfolded after Extinction Rebellion mastermind Roger Hallam and four others were earlier this month jailed for up to five years after The Sun exposed their campaign to block motorways in 2022.
It appeared to have been coordinated from the UK, with the press team behind Just Stop Oil pushing out a pre-planned release on behalf of the group.
The group named two of those arrested as Sally Davidson, a 36-year-old a hairdresser from Portland, Dorset, and Adam Beard, 55, a gardener from Stroud, Gloucestershire.
A spokesman for Heathrow confirmed: “Thanks to swift action from the police and airport colleagues, there is no disruption to passenger journeys.
“We are in full agreement that the aviation industry needs to decarbonise, but unlawful and irresponsible protest activity will not be tolerated.”
The Metropolitan Police said: “Thanks to the work of officers involved, those arrested have been taken into custody and the Met has prevented significant disruption to the airport and travelling public.”
Van Gogh soup toss yob ‘ready to risk jail’
A JUST Stop Oil activist who tossed a can of soup over a Van Gogh Sunflowers painting told a court she is prepared to go to prison for her cause.
Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, both 22, threw two tins of Heinz soup at the 1888 oil on canvass masterpiece at London’s National Gallery in October 2022 before gluing themselves to the wall.
The £72.5million artwork is protected by a glass cover, but its 17th century Italian frame was damaged.
Plummer told Southwark crown court yesterday, she has a “deep” fear of climate change.
She said: “I am willing to risk time in prison. That is how serious it is.”
Plummer, of Clapham, South London, said she knew the painting would be protected by glass and was “not hugely concerned” about the frame.
She and Holland, of Newcastle, deny criminal damage. Trial continues.
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