Fury as thousands of Extinction Rebellion activists bring London's West End to a standstill for hours... before Met finally step in to make mass arrests after group chained themselves together under vans

Police finally began making mass arrests on Monday evening after London's West End was paralysed for hours by Extinction Rebellion protesters who had erected a giant pink table in the middle of the road.

Officers moved in after demonstrators ignored repeated demands - made by loudspeaker - for them to leave the area.

Until they began making mass arrests at 8pm, the Metropolitan police had detained just eight people, despite the fact that the protest began at midday today. By 10.15pm on Monday, the police said the the number of arrests had increased to 52.

Officers responded after protesters erected a huge piece of pink furniture - which had the words 'Change is Now' and 'Come to the table' written on it - on the junction of Long Acre, St Martins Lane and Garrick Street.

It forced police to close off several roads around the area which would normally be thronged with tourists and families sightseeing.

Several protesters were seen being carried into police vans as crowds chanted 'shame on you.' A small crowd was continuing to remain under the giant table, which was put up near Leicester Square tube station. Officers have said that they will be confiscating the table when the protesters are finally cleared.

The group blindsided officers by converging on Trafalgar Square this morning to begin two weeks of what they described as 'impossible rebellion'.

The group further outsmarted officers by driving vans on two streets surrounding the Long Acre junction, before activists locked chained themselves together while lying under the vehicles' wheels.

The Met had previously promised to take a harsher approach after previous Extinction Rebellion demonstrations paralysed the capital.

Officers tried to bring today's protest to an end by putting in place a cordon which allowed people to leave the area but not to return to it.

However, this resulted in the area being occupied almost entirely by protesters, forcing the police to move some of their cordons.

Shop owners, restaurateurs and accountants have been among those to slam the selfish actions of XR activists today as they shared their fury at facing further obstacles on the road to recovery after an already challenging 18-month period.

Mustafa Ahmadi, 37, who runs Star Gifts near to Leicester Square tube station, fears he could lose as much as £10,000 by the end of the week because of the climate change demo.

His gift shop is close to where thousands of XR protesters have set up a giant pink table and occupied a busy road junction in between Leicester Square and Covent Garden.

Mr Ahmadi described the protest as 'another kick in the teeth' for local businesses and warned the financial impact could be akin to another lockdown.

He said: 'It's like another lockdown because the shop is so quiet. It's not just me but other businesses around here.

'The police have many of the roads locked off and so the tourists and families who we would normally see are being kept out.

'It's another kick in the teeth. I could lose £10,000 if this carries on to the end of the week.

Extinction Rebellion co-founder Gail Bradbrook is branded a hypocrite after revealing she drives a DIESEL car instead of an electric vehicle

The founder of radical climate activist group Extinction Rebellion has admitted that she drives a diesel car.

Dr Gail Bradbrook, 49, who helped to set up the protest group in 2018, made the revelation in an angry interview with TalkRadio presenter Cristo Foufas on Monday.

After revealing that she drives a car, she admitted that she does not own an electric vehicle because she cannot afford one.

When pressed further by Foufas about what type of car it was, she admitted it is powered by diesel, which is considered by experts to be even more harmful to the environment than petrol.

She said that she needs the car to take her children to football and rugby fixtures because her home is not served by 'buses that run on a Sunday.'

'The table – packed with a number of built in lock ons, sleeping quarters and its own stereo system – was followed by thousands of marchers from Trafalgar Square who arrived to demand the impossible, many of whom were equipped with pink chairs.

'As floods, fire and famine break out around the world, it is clear that climate breakdown is here now, and there is no choice left now but to take urgent action.

'Everyone deserves a seat at the table to have a say in how to tackle the greatest crisis of our times.'

Mr Ahmadi, whose business was shut throughout the lockdown at the start of the year, said: 'I'm trying to cover what I lost during the Pandemic and this is not helping.

He told MailOnline: 'They gave us no warning. Many protests come past the shop but we are always given notification. Not today, the protesters turned up just after midday and closed the area down.

'I've no idea how long they plan to stick around. I hope they make their point quickly and then go. Otherwise I want the police to do their job and move them on.

'We've only just re-opened after lockdown and the footfall is already down significantly since the protest began.'

Roberta Marzocca, general manger of the Pizza Pilgrims restaurant, said: 'We were closed down completely between December and May because of lockdown, the last thing we need is to be hit financially again.

'The police have some of the roads cordoned off but we hope customers will still come.

'It's still too early to tell if we'll be negatively affected - I really hope not.'

At around 6pm on Monday evening, the Met announced on Twitter that the protest on the junction of Long Acre Long Acre, St Martins Lane and Garrick Street had to end by 7pm.

When that was ignored, they began moving in to make mass arrests.

Four protesters who had chained themselves themselves together under the front wheel arches of an open top van, which had been parked nearby on Garrick Street, finally began to be removed by officers.

Another two protesters had earlier climbed on top of the van waving XR flags as police watched on.

At around 6pm, officers moved in and arrested four protesters who had fixed themselves to another van parked on St Martins Lane, near the Noel Coward Theatre.

Police officers, specially trained to work at heights and to separate people who chain or lock themselves together, were brought in from neighbouring Thames Valley Police but also from as far afield as Merseyside.

Police have pledged to take a more robust approach to Extinction Rebellion protesters to stop them from paralysing London as they did two years ago.

Activists form the climate change awareness group have set up a giant pink table in the middle of the West End and a crowd of thousands has gathered around it, bringing a bustling part of the city between Leicester Square and Covent Garden to a standstill.

But a senior officer at the scene told MailOnline today that the protesters would not be allowed to occupy the area for days on end like they did during the last summer protests in 2019.

There were no demonstrations last year due to the Coronavirus pandemic but two years ago, XR protesters brought in a pink boat and put it in the middle of Oxford Circus where they remained for a fortnight.

The officer said: 'You saw the chaos Extinction Rebellion caused during their summer protest in 2019 and how the Met was criticised for not doing enough to stop it.

'That won't be allowed to happen again.

'The protesters who have set up the pink table want to remain in the area for a considerable amount of time, potentially days, but we have teams ready to move them on.

'Some protesters have chained themselves under a vehicle but we have teams ready to react to that too.

'They took us by surprise today, we didn't know they were planning on pitching up here until they put the giant table structure up. Precautions had been put in place in other parts of London but this was unexpected.

'We now hope they move on, we are not anticipating violence as this is civil disobedience rather than anything more sinister.

'It's also just the start of two weeks worth of protests and nobody wants to get arrested so early on.

'But when the time comes - most likely later today - the protesters will be cleared from the area because we also have a duty to those business owners whose trade may be affected negatively due to this protest.'

Pictures showed officers making mass arrests this evening after protesters ignored a directive that they had to disperse by 7pm

This man was seen with a smile on his face as he was carried away by three officers during the protest in the West End

Another man who was being arrested lay limply, meaning five officers were needed to support him as he was carried away

This man was seen in handcuffs as officers carried him away after the 7pm deadline imposed by the Met expired

Police remove a demonstrator from the Long Acre and Upper St Martin's Lane junction. She was seen wearing a belt fixed to an item

This man, who had a drum tied to his belt, was also led away by police at the hugely disruptive protest on Monday

This woman was seen having her head supported by a female officer as she was removed from her position at the protest

And this demonstrator win the process of being lifted from the floor by officers after refusing to leave of their own accord

The group further outsmarted officers by driving vans on two streets surrounding the Long Acre junction, before activists locked their arms together while lying under the vehicles' wheels

Protesters block the junction of Long Acre and Upper St Martin's Lane with a large pink structure with 'Come to the Table' written on it

Extinction Rebellion protestors link arms under a van on Garrick Street, London during their demonstration this afternoon

XR Samba arrive at Trafalgar Square for Extinction Rebellion's latest climate change protest in central London this afternoon

A topless Extinction Rebellion demonstrator in central London holds a cardboard placard imploring people to help reverse the effects of climate change

Sickening moment maskless 'Karen' COUGHS in the face of grocery store customer, then claims she doesn't have to wear a mask because she 'isn't sick'

A woman was captured on camera following a customer through a supermarket as she coughs on her after claiming she does not need a mask because she is not sick. Video of the incident, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Twitter alone, allegedly took place in a Su per Saver in Lincoln, Nebraska according to Twitter user @davenewworld_2. In it, an unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of the customer recording her. Scroll down for video An unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of a woman recording her A woman was captured on camera following a customer as she coughs on her in a supermarket without a mask on claiming she does not need one because she is not sick @chaiteabugz #karen #covid #karens #karensgonewild #karensalert #masks we were just wearing a mask at the store. ¿ o

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