MORE than a dozen people have been arrested from across Cumbria after eco-protestors blocked central London roads.

The group was among more than 60 supporters of Just Stop Oil from Northern England who brought Westminster to a standstill for the fourth day in a row by blocking traffic.

The group met outside Downing Street before marching in the road towards Parliament Square where they established roadblocks on all four corners, with some gluing themselves to the road surface.

Just Stop Oil is demanding that the government commits to ending all new UK fossil fuel licenses.

14 people from Cumbria were arrested in the capital.

Anna Hall, 65, a retired natural history and archaeology teacher, from Kendal, said: “The climate crisis is here now.

“We have crop failures, fires tearing through great forests, and people dying and losing their homes in their thousands. And this is just the start.

“Our civilisation is under dire threat. We all know this, so to stand by with our eyes closed and our fingers in our ears is immoral and insane.”

Gillian Kelly, a 78 year old retired teacher and psychotherapist from Ambleside, said: “I’m here in London, willing to be arrested, because I know - and just about everybody knows now - that in order for our children and grandchildren to have a liveable future we have to stop extracting and burning fossil fuels, yet the government is continuing to subsidise the fossil fuel industry and hand out scores of licenses for new oil and gas fields. This is not just irresponsible, it is murderously insane”.

James Rafferty, a maths teacher from Keswick, said: “I'm here today because I'm very concerned about the future. I want to have an answer for my grandchildren when they ask me ‘did you do anything to stop the climate emergency?’ I will tell them I was here, and that I did what I could. If I must get arrested then so be it”.

The blockades this month are timed to coincide with the planned launch of a new round of oil and gas licensing in which around 130 new licences for oil and gas projects are likely to be awarded.

Just Stop Oil’s occupation of Westminster also comes against a background of an energy price hike on October 1 which means almost eight million households are expected to fall into fuel poverty by April 1 2023, while energy companies are accused of making huge profits.

Alan Barnes, a paramedic from Keswick, said: “We have a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable future for all. The greed and excess profits of the fossil fuel industry are harming society and forcing more and more people into poverty. Health professionals have a trusted voice, so it's our duty to help raise the alarm; the climate and ecological emergency is the biggest health threat facing humanity.”

Tommy Burnett, a 29 year old taxi driver and outdoor instructor from Kendal, said “People's health, and the health of our planet, is more important than the wealth of a few. We have to stand in solidarity with everyone affected by climate change, and demand an end to new oil and gas before it's too late.

“We need everyone who is disappointed, angry, upset, and feels unrepresented, to come out in civil resistance and hold the government to account. We’re powerful when we come together, and only by coming together can power be challenged.”

Just Stop Oil has vowed to continue the blockages in the capital for at least a month.

A spokeswoman from the group said: “This is not a one day event, this is an act of resistance against a criminal government and their genocidal death project. Our supporters will be returning – today

– tomorrow - and the next day – and the next day after that – and every day until our demand is met – no new oil and gas in the UK. Come and join us at Downing Street at 11am every day during October. We will not stand by while everything we know and love is wilfully destroyed. We do this because it is the right thing to do and so we have a duty, a responsibility to continue.”