Just Stop Oil apologises over protest site rubbish

People take part in a Just Stop Oil protest blocking the entrance to the Kingsbury Oil Terminal near Birmingham. Picture date: Wednesday September 14, 2022. Image source, PA Media
Image caption,

Just Stop Oil has staged several protests near Kingsbury Oil depot over recent months

At a glance

  • Just Stop Oil has apologised after a farmer shared a video online of rubbish left by protesters

  • The litter was found near a tunnel at the Kingsbury Oil depot in Warwickshire

  • Farmer Charles Goadby shared a video on social media slamming the "absolute mess"

  • The environmental group said it understood Mr Goadby's anger

  • Published

Environmental activists have apologised after protesters left rubbish in a field near an oil terminal.

Just Stop Oil members have been demonstrating at the Kingsbury Oil depot in Warwickshire on and off for months.

Farmer Charles Goadby discovered the litter close to a tunnel near the site and shared a video online demanding an explanation for the mess, branding it "complete hypocrisy".

The group has promised to remove the rubbish, which includes chairs, sleeping bags and plastic bottles, over the coming days.

A spokesperson said it was likely left in August when demonstrators were arrested, however Mr Goadby only discovered it on Tuesday.

"We were working on the ground and knew protesters had been in the area," the farmer said.

"As we got closer we could see the litter through the hedge."

The video he shared online, external has been viewed tens of thousands of times.

Image source, Charles Goadby
Image caption,

Plastic waste featured heavily in the video filmed by Charles Goadby

As well as the rubbish, Mr Goadby said long-term damage had been caused to the hedge.

"The farmer is right to be angry," a spokesperson for the group said. "Just Stop Oil is sorry that the site was not cleaned up, this is now being organised.

"The area should have been cleaned, so that the land, people and wildlife are protected."

It follows an incident last week where a man was filmed dumping rubbish from a van near Mr Goadby's farm.

He said he was seeing rubbish dumped in the countryside "day in, day out".

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