Three people have been charged with unlawfully blocking a tunnel at Heathrow Airport following a protest yesterday.
Protest group Plane Stupid said three of its members blockaded the tunnel in yesterday’s rush hour by parking a car across both lanes and locking themselves to it.
The protest, which started at 7.40am, blocked the access tunnel to Terminals 1, 2, and 3 and caused traffic gridlock.
Police were called and the tunnel was eventually re-opened at around lunchtime.
Metropolitain police said Esme Woldren, 22, of Walmer Crescent, Brighton, William Pettifer, 26, of Mill Lane, Radford, and, Alastair Cannell, 26, of no fixed address, have been bailed to appear at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on December 21.
Two other people have been bailed to return to a west London police station pending further enquiries.
Taking responsibility for the demonstration, Plane Stupid spokesperson Cameron Kaye said yesterday: "There is already airport capacity for families taking their yearly holiday. New runways only benefit the 15% of flyers who take 70% of our flights, cooking our planet.
"These are rich frequent leisure flyers. The most reliable predictors of frequent flyer status are a household income over £115,000 and owning a second home abroad, but it’s the poorest people who suffer most from climate change."
In July, Plane Stupid activists blocked Heathrow’s North runway, reportedly causing 22 flights to be cancelled and hundreds delayed.
