EMERGENCY services, including firefighters, continue to be tied up in Thurrock by protesters from the JustStopOil movement – who this morning (Wednesday, 6 April) glued themselves to the road at Stonehouse Lane in West Thurrock to block the transport of fuel from local depots and consequently other vehicles.

Meanwhile other protesters remain in tunnels and defy efforts by the police to get them out. Officers have been assisted by firefighters at sites near the Navigator Terminal in west Grays but some of the campaigners remain.

Around 200 protestors have now been arrested in Thurrock since the protests began on Friday, 1 April. Campaigners are opposing the giovernment's plans to increase production of oil and gas from the North Sea.

Ben, 27, has been in a tunnel near the Navigator tunnel for several says and says: "So, I'm in a tunnel under the road next to an oil refinery. Why am I here? Well, oil is killing people and it's happening now, it's fuelling war and it's destroying everyone's future. It's geocidal, basically. So what I'm asking is that the government gets f****** grip.

"We need an emergency response to get off oil and gas now. This needs to be paid for by the fossil fuel companies and the rich, not ordinary people."