Just Stop Oil eco warriors held a sit-down protest at London Heathrow Airport today, then played dead as they were dragged away by police.

The protesters sat in Terminal 5’s departures area behind fire extinguishers after covering the floor, departure boards and corridor windows with orange paint – just one day after activists from the group blocked departure gates at Gatwick .

But their protest fell flat and failed to cause any disruption to holidaymakers passing through the airport at the start of the summer holidays.

The protest began at 8.35am before a team of police officers arrived to arrest the duo before hauling them away and into a police van by 8.50am. Heathrow officials later confirmed the airport ‘continues to operate as normal’.

One of the activists today was Phoebe Plummer, who last week was found guilty of criminal damage after throwing soup over Vincent van Gogh’s painting Sunflowers. 

The 22-year-old will be sentenced on September 27 over the incident at the National Gallery in London in October 2022 and has been warned by a judge to expect jail.

The second activist, Jane Touil, 58, shouted while sat down today: ‘Refuse to die for fossil fuels. We have seen the hottest two days in recorded history. Last year was the hottest year in recorded history.’

The Metropolitan Police said two people were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, and officers remained at the scene to ‘deal with any further offences’.

Yesterday, furious families stepped over seven Just Stop Oil activists who entered Gatwick’s South Terminal at about 8am and ‘used suitcases with lock-on devices to block the departure gates’.

The protesters then sat on the floor inside the airport, blocking an entrance – but passengers with suitcases stepped over them to continue with their journeys.

Sussex Police said eight people were arrested on suspicion of interfering with public infrastructure, and a ‘heightened police presence should be expected at this time’.

Today, a Just Stop Oil press release quoted Plummer as saying: ‘People around the world are rising up to demand an end to oil by 2030.

‘This is an international problem, so ordinary people are doing what our politicians will not, working together globally to put a stop to the harm and suffering that fossil fuels cause.’

‘Repression and prison time will not stop people stepping up to defend our families and communities. We have to put a stop to oil and gas. We’ve had fires raging in Jasper (national park in Canada).

‘British farmers are in despair after the wettest 18 months on record destroying crops. Mortuaries are overflowing in India after a heatwave. If we want to protect life and what we love, we need a treaty to Just Stop Oil by 2030.’

A statement from fellow activist Touil added: ‘We are in the greatest crisis humanity has ever faced and governments are not doing what is needed to protect us.

‘Ordinary people have to stand up and make their governments do the right thing, because without pressure from us, they won’t. I feel so angry and betrayed that politicians have let this happen when they’ve known about climate breakdown for over 50 years.’

‘Fossil fuel companies are maxing out profits, while hundreds of millions of people pay the price with their lives. Our government must commit to signing a legally binding fossil fuel treaty to end the extraction and burning of fossil fuels by 2030 – and it must support poorer countries to get off fossil fuels too.’

Also today, Just Stop Oil supporter Dr Bing Jones told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘We are not trying to stop flying per se, but flying is a central part of the fossil fuels story. 

‘We are trying to show up that the fossil fuel companies are at war with ordinary people and we have just to stop this.’

After presenter Ed Balls suggested the group had become ‘Just Stop Flying’, The Times head of travel Claire Irvin said: ‘They have become Just Stop Flying. While yesterday’s faintly ridiculous protest didn’t actually stop flying, it was definitely very irritating.’

She added: ‘It’s the school holidays. People have saved all year for that all-important family break. Travel is really important, it’s really important on a geopolitical level, it’s also really important on a personal level for mental health, family bonding, for just relaxing and enjoying the planet.

‘Now nobody is suggesting that we want to burn the planet. As a travel editor, I have a huge appreciation for the planet and indeed do encourage our readers to travel responsibly. But that does not mean ruining their holidays.

But Dr Jones hit back, saying: ‘This is completely missing the point. We are not concentrating. The problem is that the world is actually heading for catastrophic hurt.’

A Heathrow spokeswoman responded to today’s protest, telling MailOnline: ‘Working with partners we have quickly resolved a protest incident in Terminal 5 and all involved have been removed from the airport. 

‘The airport continues to operate as normal and passengers are travelling as planned. We are in full agreement that the aviation industry needs to decarbonise, but unlawful and irresponsible protest activity is not the way forward and will not be tolerated.’ 

Also in London yesterday, environmental protesters from another group caused criminal damage and blocked access to the office building of the think tank Policy Exchange on Old Queen Street in Westminster.

One person was arrested for criminal damage. 

The members of Extinction Rebellion held banners bearing the words ‘Policy Exchange – cut the ties to fossil fuels’.

Leaflets given out at the demonstration listed the group’s demands, including ‘full and open disclosure’ of where funding for the think tank comes from, increased transparency of Policy Exchange meetings with MPs and government departments, and the removal of charitable status for ‘any lobby group’ that receives money from ‘big oil and gas’.

The group poured pools of black liquid outside the Policy Exchange building alongside a yellow sign reading ‘Caution: slippery with the truth’.

Last week, ten Just Stop Oil activists suspected of planning to disrupt Heathrow were arrested. 

None of the activists were able to get into the airport, according to the Metropolitan Police.

The latest action is part of the ‘Oil Kills international uprising’, the group said, taking place at airports around the world.

Just Stop Oil said 21 groups across 12 countries have taken action at 18 airports so far.

It listed these as including Letzte Generation Germany; Folk Mot Fossilmakta and Scientist Rebellion in Norway; XR Finland; Futuro Vegetal in Spain; Drop Fossil Subsidies and Act Now – Liberate in Switzerland; Letzte Generation Austria; Extinction Rebellion and Scientists Rebellion in Sweden; Doe Deurne Dicht in Belgium; Last Generation Canada; XR Boston; Last Generation America; and Scientist Rebellion Turtle Island.

Mel Carrington, 63, a mother and former environmental consultant from Dorset, and Greg Sculthorpe, a mathematician from Doncaster, were said to be among the activists involved at Gatwick yesterday.

Earlier this month, Gatwick became the latest major airport to secure a High Court injunction in an attempt to stop would-be environmental activists trespassing on its land after receiving police intelligence over protest plans.

Timothy Morshead KC, representing Gatwick at the hearing, said such action could cause ‘severe disruption and financial loss’ and ‘significant delays for passengers’.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: ‘We recognise the democratic right of people to peacefully express their views, but obviously they should do so within the bounds of the law.

‘And clearly being seen to significantly disrupt people’s summer holidays is no way of winning people around to your cause.’