Police moved to arrest a group of protesters in Piccadilly as the annual Pride parade got underway
Seven Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested while trying to halt the annual Pride parade in central London.
Images on social media showed police removing demonstrators who managed to briefly stop the march.
The Metropolitan Police said seven people were arrested for public nuisance offences.
Before the parade started, LGBTQ+ Just Stop Oil members called on Pride to stop accepting sponsorship money from “high-polluting industries”.
Police said the parade was delayed for around 17 minutes while officers dealt with the protesters at Piccadilly’s junction with Down Street.
BBC Radio London’s Rob Oxley said the protesters “sat down in front of the Coke float for around 20 minutes”.
“The DJ on the float continued to play music and the crowd cheered as they were removed.”
Image source, PA Media
Organisers anticipate tens of thousands of people will come to watch the parade in central London
It comes after Just Stop Oil earlier threatened to disrupt the march if the parade did not stop accepting sponsorship money from “high-polluting industries”.
Before the parade started, LGBTQ+ members of Just Stop Oil called on organisers to condemn new oil, gas and coal licences.
“These partnerships embarrass the LGBTQ+ community at a time when much of the cultural world is rejecting ties to these toxic industries,” they said in a statement.
LGBTQ+ people are “suffering first” in the “accelerating social breakdown” caused by climate change, they added.
Speaking after the arrests, Will De’Athe-Morris, from Pride in London said he did not want the protest to overshadow the parade’s core message.
“Pride is a protest and pride is a celebration,” he told the BBC.
“We are protesting for LGBTQ+ rights and for our trans siblings in a separate march alone.
“So for us anyone who tries to disrupt that protest and parade is really letting down those people who use this space once a year to come together to celebrate and protest for those rights.
“There are so many more opportunities during the year to share your messages, please don’t try and rain on this parade.
“We don’t want to see a day marred in any way by people trying to disrupt it.”
Earlier, Sadiq Khan described Just Stop Oil as a “really important pressure group” despite the disruption threats.
