Activists from Just Stop Oil, a group connected to the Extinction Rebellion, have declared that they dug a network of tunnels at the Navigator and Grays oil terminals in Essex in a bid to halt the oil transportation there, the Daily Express reports.
According to the newspaper, the group claimed that their efforts resulted in the main and emergency access roads to the terminals being closed.
The group also tweeted a picture of what they describe as “one of three tunnels, one dug under each entrance to the massive Navigator oil terminal and one at the entrance to the Grays site”.
The apparent goal of the move is to block access to the Titan Truck Park, where over 100 tankers that service the three major terminals in the area are apparently located, the newspaper adds.
Just Stop Oil reportedly claimed that the underground protest that halted the HS2 high-speed railway construction at Euston Square Gardens served as inspiration for their move.
The group demanded that the British government stop the expansion of new oil and gas projects, and declared in a social media post that their “only means of highlighting this issue is mass civil resistance”.
Explaining their reasons on their website, the group argues that Britain already has “more oil and gas than we can afford to burn” and advocates for “ending our reliance on fossil fuels completely.”
Previously, Just Stop Oil boasted that hundreds of their supporters had “blocked key oil terminals at 10 sites across the country with potential on fuel supplies to London and the South East".
Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain, and other environmental campaign groups have voiced their support for the protest.