Environmental activists have caused rush-hour chaos in west London by mounting an oil tanker and forcefully closing a major roundabout that leads to the start of the M4 motorway.

“Road closures are currently in place at the Chiswick roundabout,” Hounslow police tweeted on Thursday morning. “Diversions are in place. Please avoid the area if possible.”

Four activists climbed the top of a fuel tanker at the junction that feeds traffic from west London on and off the M4. Off the side of the tanker, they draped flags reading: “Just Stop Oil.”

In the beginning, they let the cars pass, with many drivers shouting at the protesters, but as more policemen arrived, they closed the roundabout.

Activists from @JustStop_Oil have stopped an oil tanker at the Chiswick roundabout at the start of the M4 in west London pic.twitter.com/RlWTkayJMp

— Damien Gayle (@damiengayle) April 14, 2022

Since April 1, activists have been stopping fuel terminals and resulting in petrol and diesel shortages in some areas. They said that they aimed to publicize their protests.

“This is about making the invisible visible,” one protester shouted to The Guardian from atop the tanker, adding “It’s about showing people the stuff that is destroying people’s livelihoods and ecosystems.”

Just Stop Oil stated that they bear responsibility for blockading the tanker and said the group's activists were working “to stop the flow of oil in London”. The group has vowed to disrupt oil deliveries in London until the government accepts a moratorium on all new projects related to oil and gas.

The protest came as petrol and diesel insufficiency reports continued in the areas that the group targeted. Over the past fortnight, the group has staged mass trespasses and blockades at 11 oil distribution facilities.

On Wednesday, it was reported that one major petrochemical company had obtained an order that banned protests at its sites in the UK. The company, Valero, owns the Kingsbury oil terminal in Warwickshire which has been targeted several times by Just Stop Oil.

The Labour party had called for the government to impose “national injunctions” that ban Just Stop Oil protests. In response, the group said Labour was “betraying its past, betraying the youth of this country, of every country and are complicit in climate genocide”.

Before striking, Just Stop Oil’s activists waited at the Chiswick roundabout for an oil tanker for an hour and a half.

When the tanker arrived, one activist ran to the nearest traffic lights, pushed the button, stood in front of the cab, unrolled their banner, and told the driver that others were climbing on his trailer. 

Activists protest in central London over fossil fuels

Extinction Rebellion activists conducted a sit-in protest in the center of London, demanding that the government stop investing in fossil fuels.

On Saturday, hundreds of activists converged on Oxford Street and Regent Street, obstructing traffic while chanting "save our planet" and "whose streets, our streets."

Banners with "Life on earth is dying" and "Code Red: End Fossil Fuels" were held as protesters marched into the West End and moved to Trafalgar Square.

Some dressed as Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, and Home Secretary Priti Patel held signs criticizing the government's response to the climate change situation.

The crowd contained numerous doctors and medical professionals.

On its Twitter page, Extinction Rebellion UK Tweeted that hundreds of citizens would be "standing up for climate justice and to end fossil fuels by simply sitting down."

Hundreds of activists from the Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil groups began closing oil terminals across Britain on Friday and some supporters of the groups boarded oil tankers as part of a campaign to force the government to end its dependence on fossil fuels.