Four charged after Animal Rebellion protesters scale London building

Four people have been charged after animal rights protesters scaled a government building in London and vowed to stay there indefinitely.

Animal Rebellion campaigners allegedly used ladders, ropes and harnesses to climb the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs office as high as 20 metres at around 6am on Tuesday.

Members of the group, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, said they were calling to end animal agriculture and demanding support for a plant-based food system at COP26.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement 26-year-old Orla Coghlan and 25-year-old Jamie Ozden, both of Tottenham north London, were charged on Wednesday evening with aggravated trespass.

Liam Bright, 28, of Sherborne, Dorset, and 19-year-old Annabel Berwick, of Cambridge, were each charged with the same offence.

All four were bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 15.

Protesters remained at the Westminster building for several hours with a spokesperson for the group claiming they planned to stay put in hammocks until their demands were met.

Nathan McGovern said: “Our protesters climbed the building in the early hours of this morning to send a clear message that we want an end to support for animal agriculture which is killing our planet.”

The arrests come as Boris Johnson prepares to welcome world leaders in Glasgow for the UN climate summit which starts on Sunday.

In the weeks before the summit, the government announced a number of green initiatives including £5,000 household grants to replace their gas boiler with a low carbon heat pump.

Mr Johnson announced large scale investment in to green industries in a partnership with Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Catalyst to drive an extra £200 million of private sector investment in climate-friendly power schemes in the UK.