Extinction Rebellion: Climate demonstrators glue themselves to Treasury and London Stock Exchange before 'pausing' protest

Extinction Rebellion (XR) has brought 10 days of climate protests to an end after activists glued themselves to the London Stock Exchange and the Treasury on Thursday.

Protesters held a “closing ceremony” at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park following a wave of blockades around the capital over 10 days.

Members of the group targeted London’s financial districts to highlight what they called the business world’s “role in our collective suicide”.

They were detached before being taken away by police, and Scotland Yard said 13 people had been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespassing.

The Exchange said all markets had opened as normal.

Elsewhere, six protesters including 83-year-old grandfather Phil Kingston clambered on to the roof of a DLR train at Canary Wharf station in east London, holding signs saying “business as usual = death” and “don’t jail the canaries”.

British Transport Police (BTP) used ropes, ladders and harnesses to remove them before saying six people were arrested on suspicion of obstructing the railway.

In central London, dozens of XR members including drummers and banner-carriers could be seen demonstrating outside offices of bankers Goldman Sachs in Fleet Street.

The group moved down the road and blockaded it at intervals, with about a dozen buses seen stuck on either side of the blockade.

Police said 13 people were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespassing in Fleet Street.

Protesters later glued themselves to the front of the Treasury in Westminster.

The nine protesters, two men and seven women, formed a chain of people preventing others from entering One Horse Guards Road.

An XR spokeswoman said Thursday’s targets were selected because “the financial industry is responsible for funding climate and ecological destruction and we are calling on them, the companies and the institutions that allow this to happen, to tell the truth”.

Skeena Rathor, a co-ordinator for the group, told people in Hyde Park that Thursday was “the beginning of our pause” when activists should “begin a process of reflection”.

However, XR has said the public should expect more action “very soon”.

Eco-protesters have urged ministers to declare a climate emergency to avoid what it calls a “sixth mass extinction” of species on Earth.

Some 1,130 people have been arrested during the protests which started on April 15, while more than 10,000 police officers have been deployed.

The Metropolitan Police said 69 people had been charged, while BTP has charged three people.

Additional reporting by PA