Insulate Britain protesters will now face jail time from today after weeks of traffic disruption on the M25.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said National Highways has been granted an injunction against M25 protesters by a judge, which will come into effect later on Wednesday and means activists will face possible imprisonment.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said National Highways has been granted an injunction against protesters targeting the M25.

He tweeted: “Invading a motorway is reckless & puts lives at risk. I asked National Highways to seek an injunction against M25 protestors which a judge granted last night. Effective later today, activists will face contempt of court with possible imprisonment if they flout.”

Insulate Britain dubbed “guerrilla” activists by government

The action against Insulate Britain comes as Home Secretary Priti Patel and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps vowed to ensure “guerrilla” activists “cannot keep disrupting and endangering people’s lives”.

Environment Secretary George Eustice told Sky News: “We are taking legal action, I understand, to seek an injunction that would give police stronger powers to be able to intervene pre-emptively to stop these protests happening so that you are not getting a situation where you have to wait for them to sit on the road, cause chaos and then have to remove them after the event.”

Footage taken at the scene by LBC showed the protesters walking on to the motorway and sitting down on the ground in front of moving traffic.

Some then held up banners reading “Insulate Britain” and poured blue paint on to the road, before they were dragged away by officers.

Writing in a column for the Mail, Ms Patel and Mr Shapps condemned the tactics of the protesters, adding police have their support to take “decisive action” against any future disruptive demonstrations.

They wrote: “(The protesters) have broken the law, undermined the cause they believe in, alienated the public, and created extra pollution, in one of the most self-defeating environmental protests this country has ever seen.

“We are giving (police) powers to better manage such guerrilla tactics in future.

“In the medium-term, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will put public nuisance on a statutory footing, ensuring there are appropriate sentences for the harm caused.”