Nine climate change activists from Insulate Britain have been jailed for breaching High Court injunctions designed to prevent disruptive protests.

The protest group began a wave of protests in September and has blocked M25 junctions in Thurrock and Brentwood, as well as several others around the country.

Smaller roads were also targeted in Thurrock, as well as roads in London including around Parliament, in Birmingham and Manchester, and around the Port of Dover in Kent.

On Wednesday, nine supporters of the group were jailed at the High Court in London after they admitted breaching the injunction by taking part in a blockade at junction 25 of the M25 on October 8.

Ana Heyatawin, 58, and Louis McKechnie, 20, were jailed for three months, while Ben Buse, 36, Roman Paluch-Machnik, 28, Oliver Rock, 41, Emma Smart, 44, Tim Speers, 36, and James Thomas, 47, all received four-month sentences.

The submissions made by Ben Taylor, 37, to the court on Tuesday were described by Dame Victoria Sharp as “inflammatory” and a “call to arms”, and he was therefore given a longer sentence of six months “to deter (him) from committing further breaches”.

The judge, sitting with Mr Justice Chamberlain, said there was no alternative to custodial sentences given that the group’s actions were so serious and they had made it clear they intended to further flout court orders.

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She said: “The defendants, or some of them, seem to want to be martyrs for their cause, and the media campaign surrounding this hearing appears designed to suggest this.

“We, however, have to act dispassionately and proportionately.”

The group and their supporters chanted “We are unstoppable, another world is possible”, as they were led to the cells through the dock by security officers.

Raj Chada, a solicitor at Hodge Jones and Allen law firm who supported the protesters, said: “With these prison terms, the long and honourable tradition of civil disobedience is under attack again.

“Rather than leaving courts to imprison those that raise the alarm, it should be the Government that acts to protect us against the climate crisis.”

Insulate Britain says it intends to continue with the protests, which have sparked anger among motorists and others affected by the blockades, until the Government agrees to insulate homes.