Over 300 climate protesters have been arrested in London as four of the busiest roads in the city were blockaded as part of a widespread demonstration.

Police are said to be short of holding cells for those detained, mainly on public order offences. It said contingency plans are in place should cells become full.

Protesters from the “Extinction Rebellion” group seized areas around Waterloo Bridge, Marble Arch, Oxford Street and Parliament Square making them impassable for traffic.

Ecological collapse

In a post on Twitter the group said it was in open rebellion against the governments of the world. It claimed “their inaction on and complicity in climate breakdown and ecological collapse is killing all life”.

Protesters also glued themselves to a train in a bid to cause disruption. Transport for London (TfL) switched off Wi-Fi at stations to deter protests.

While the protests began on Monday the group intends to continue disruption for up to a fortnight.

Extinction Rebellion itself was only set up last year and since then members have poured buckets of fake blood outside Downing Street and stripped semi-naked in the House of Commons.

The activists are calling on the UK government to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.