Extinction Rebellion protesters in hi-vis jackets have glued themselves to concrete blocks outside Leicester Square tube station to campaign against air pollution.
It is the latest demonstration as part of the climate change group’s ’12 Days of Crisis’ which is due to run until the day before polling on December 11.
As part of its latest stunt, a number of activists dressed in gas masks, hard hats and hi-viz jackets have glued themselves to yellow concrete blocks, on Cranbourne Street, in central London.
The demonstration, called The Air We Grieve, involved 25 cement blocks which the activists said represents the number of Londoners who die each day as a result of air pollution.
At either end of the protest are signs saying ‘all I want for X-Mas is clean air’ and ‘air pollution kills 25 Londoners a day.’
One protester, teacher Rosamund Frost, said: ‘We are here demanding action on illegal levels of toxic air in our communities, our schools and our streets.
Activists take part in an Extinction Rebellion protest against air pollution kills in London today
A number of signs are at the protest such as this one saying ‘All I want for X-Mas is clean air
A climate change activist prepares the adhesive ready to glue themselves to a yellow concrete block
A protester wearing a gas mask on top of a a wooden stand that says ‘air pollution kills 25 Londoners each day’
‘In February 2017, the European Commission issued a ‘final warning’ to the UK over illegal levels of air pollution.
‘In May that year, after the Government failed to take decisive action, they were taken to Europe’s highest court, the European Court of Justice.
‘The Government have neglected to tackle fatal levels of air pollution. How can we put our trust in them to address the broader climate and ecological emergency?’
Police arrived at the demonstration earlier this morning, which protesters said has ‘dangerously high levels of air pollution’.
Meanwhile, other Extinction Rebellion protesters were entering their fourth week on hunger strike outside political party headquarters in Westminster.
The strikers, including 76-year-old grandfather Peter Cole, have sent a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, inviting him to discuss the climate and ecological emergency with them on Monday.
The group of activists sit with their hands glued to the concrete slabs near Leicester Square tube station
Police officers take away an activist during an Extinction Rebellion protest against air pollution this morning in London
And in Manchester a number of Extinction Rebellion protesters are also blocking rush hour traffic on a busy street.
A number of climate change campaigners donning orange overalls have stopped traffic from passing on Great Ancoats Street.
Three people can be seen straddling a wooden construction in the centre of the road, opposite the disused Central Retail Park.
The protesters are holding banners with the Extinction Rebellion logo and calling on the government to act on air pollution problems.
Drivers are being advised to find alternative routes and a number of
Stagecoach bus services are being diverted.
Extinction Rebellion Manchester posted on social media: ‘Please support our rebels who are blocking a road in central Manchester to raise awareness of the devastating impacts of climate change. Thank you.’
Protestors from Extinction Rebellion performed a ‘Bulldozer lie-in’ on Bath Road, above the Tunnel Road roundabout
One driver caught up in the chaos was a mum with a hungry four-month-old baby.
Her partner told Manchester Evening News: ‘She had our little baby in the car. The police aren’t being helpful, they are saying you are going to have to move.
‘It took her one hour 20 minutes to complete a 15 minute journey. The baby is only four months old and needed feeding.
‘One of the protesters did try to get her through, but the leader said they can’t let anybody through.
‘This is not the way to engender empathy for their cause. We are all concerned about the climate, but there are many more ways of going about it.
‘They could show decency and compassion when someone has got a baby.’
Yesterday Extinction Rebellion protesters staged a mass lie-in in front of a bulldozer at Heathrow after cycling there to protest against the controversial third runway.
When the cyclists arrived at the airport, they performed a ‘bulldozer lie-in’ and acted out the future destruction bulldozers will cause when they begin building the controversial third runway.
They acted out the ‘future destruction’ that bulldozers will cause, when they begin building the controversial third runway
Boris Johnson and John McDonnell were invited to attend the protest by the eco activists but neither responded to correspondence.
A spokesman for the group told MailOnline the protest was a ‘success’ and around 300 people took part.
They said: ‘This was a relatively chilled action. If they actually start going ahead with the third runway, people will have to stop them and the action would be much more arrestable.’
The action at Heathrow did not cause any disruption to flights in and out of the airport.