Insulate Britain: Hertfordshire protests costs police £58k

Insulate Britain has staged protests across major roads in the South-East

Dealing with Insulate Britain protests on the M25 in Hertfordshire has cost taxpayers more than £58,000 to police.

The group, which has called on the government to do more to insulate homes, has protested on major roads in south-east England since September.

In some cases activists have glued themselves to roads.

A Freedom of Information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service found the seven protests in the county cost Hertfordshire Police £58,775.22.

Police officers remove a protester glued to the road at an Insulate Britain roadblock near to the South Mimms roundabout

The force estimated the cost of policing the protests was £8,396.46 per day.

Four protests took place in Hertfordshire during the first 10 days of action between 13 and 23 September, before the government injunction limited activity for a number of weeks.

Using the police's estimates, the four protests in September cost the force more than £33,500. 

• Arrests as protesters glue themselves to road

• Several arrested over Insulate Britain M25 protests

• Insulate Britain block roads leading to M25

By extrapolating the September costs to include a further three days of action on 8 and 29 October and 2 November, the seven protests were likely to have cost the taxpayer £58,775.22.

This figure does not include any costs for resources used on days that protests did not materialise in Hertfordshire.

Hertfordshire Police have been called to several protests

The force said it was unable to provide a breakdown of how many officers have had to be deployed to each protest.

In response to the figures, the force said that protesters had put themselves at risk and "posed a substantial risk to countless other members of the public".

At least 76 arrests have been made in connection with the Hertfordshire protests.

Supt Nick Caveney said: "In order to minimise the disruption caused, we have had to dedicate resources to spotting protestors and removing them quickly; diverting valuable police resources away from our core role of preventing crime, catching criminals, and protecting the public."

Insulate Britain did not respond to a request for comment, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.