Many anti-oil activists in the UK are protesting the use of oil in various ways. The events that have increased recently, especially this week, have brought about quite severe consequences. Queues formed at Tesco Gas station in Cambs, Ely on Sunday morning as oil access was interrupted.
Protesters blockaded some areas. About 1,200 gas stations in the south of the Midlands were affected today, according to information shared by the Fair Fuel UK Campaign. It was announced that one of the 3 stations in the south was affected by the incident. The majority of gas stations were either closed or there were long queues.
These protests caused both fuel chaos and traffic chaos. After the incident that brought life to a standstill, drivers were warned that they could be fined £100 for scattering in traffic.
APPROXIMATELY 800 PEOPLE ARRESTED
Members of ‘Just Stop Oil’ chain themselves to pipes and hide underground in mass protests. Nearly 800 people have been arrested across the country, 338 of them in Essex, and 29 have been detained at BP Kingsbury Oil Terminal today. They have been arrested for alleged crimes such as criminal harm, conspiracy to cause punitive harm, and conspiracy to cause public distress.
Essex Deputy Chief of Police Constable Glen Pavelin said: “We cannot remain silent when criminal acts are committed and lives are at risk in the name of protest. We are not anti-protests. Our job is to protect lives and catch criminals.”
EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
Officials, who have worked hard to make protesters aware of the risks of these actions, which are extremely dangerous due to their hiding places, said their protests cost more than £1m. Police officers also said there will continue to be an “increased police presence” in the coming days.
FIRST TIME SO EXPENSIVE
The station closures caused the cost of gasoline and diesel to exceed 1.5 pounds per liter for the first time. Families are already facing pressure from the cost of living crisis and rising energy bills, but now have to shell out £83 to fill a 55-litre car.
The district police stated that they have contingency plans to deal with such situations and that they aim to resolve the outage as quickly as possible, but they want to ensure everyone’s safety while doing this.