- Chaos on M25 as Batman protester scales gantry!
- By Joanna Sugden
- The Times
- 15/08/2008 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: Daveyone ( 2 articles in 2008 )
Holidaymakers and commuters were caught up in massive rush hour tailbacks on one of Britain’s busiest roads when a protester dressed as Batman climbed onto a sign overhanging the M25.
There was traffic chaos as the entire anti-clockwise section of the London orbital motorway had to be closed between junction 15 and 14 – the turn off for Heathrow – and drivers on the other side slowed to look at the protester.
Police are still attempting to talk the protester down and the Highways Agency said traffic jams stretched back to junction 18 as drivers were experiencing delays of over an hour and a half. Only three lanes of traffic are currently open.
A spokeswoman for the Highways Agency said that the road conditions were “hideous” and the distraction was a potential hazard for drivers.
Geoff Hibbert, supported by the campaign group Fathers 4 Justice, climbed onto the gantry at 7.30 am this morning dressed in his superhero costume. He then unfurled a banner protesting against “secret family courts”.
It is a year to the day since Mr Hibbert was last allowed to see his eight-year-old daughter, according to Matt O’Connor the founder of Fathers 4 Justice. The group is renowned for staging outlandish protests including scaling the walls of Buckingham Palace and the homes of Government ministers including Harriet Harman, the deputy Labour leader.
Mr O’Connor likened the cause to that of fuel protesters who demonstrate on Britain’s roads. He told Times Online “We’re the Marmite protest group, some people love us some people hate us. This is not a stunt - it’s an emergency and we are the guys sounding the alarm bell.”
There was traffic chaos as the entire anti-clockwise section of the London orbital motorway had to be closed between junction 15 and 14 – the turn off for Heathrow – and drivers on the other side slowed to look at the protester.
Police are still attempting to talk the protester down and the Highways Agency said traffic jams stretched back to junction 18 as drivers were experiencing delays of over an hour and a half. Only three lanes of traffic are currently open.
A spokeswoman for the Highways Agency said that the road conditions were “hideous” and the distraction was a potential hazard for drivers.
Geoff Hibbert, supported by the campaign group Fathers 4 Justice, climbed onto the gantry at 7.30 am this morning dressed in his superhero costume. He then unfurled a banner protesting against “secret family courts”.
It is a year to the day since Mr Hibbert was last allowed to see his eight-year-old daughter, according to Matt O’Connor the founder of Fathers 4 Justice. The group is renowned for staging outlandish protests including scaling the walls of Buckingham Palace and the homes of Government ministers including Harriet Harman, the deputy Labour leader.
Mr O’Connor likened the cause to that of fuel protesters who demonstrate on Britain’s roads. He told Times Online “We’re the Marmite protest group, some people love us some people hate us. This is not a stunt - it’s an emergency and we are the guys sounding the alarm bell.”
Source: https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4538321.ece
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