Police have arrested 16 Just Stop Oil protesters following a second day of disruption on the M25.

The climate change group claims activists were involved in blocking the motorway “at multiple locations” from 7am on Tuesday.

Essex Police said a protester climbed onto the gantry at junction 31, causing the Dartford Tunnel to be closed, and was later arrested.

Kent Police said two protesters had been arrested at junction 1b (Dartford). The motorway was also affected by blockages in Epping, Cheshunt, Kings Langley, Reigate, Leatherhead, Chertsey, Staines and Slough, other forces said.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed a total of 16 protesters were arrested in a joint operation with Essex, Surrey and Kent forces.

Just Stop Oil is calling on the government to halt all new fossil fuel licences in the North Sea.

The group’s tactics are controversial, with many environmental experts claiming they are more divisive than they are helpful to the overall cause.

One of the people involved in Tuesday’s protest was 53-year-old social worker Charlotte Kirin from Bury St Edmunds.

She said she would “not turn my back on people whose lives are being destroyed for rich men’s profit”.

Edred Whittingham, a 25-year-old student from Cambridge also involved, said that “politics is broken in this country and it’s up to everyday people to fix it”.

Just Stop Oil said that since it began staging protests in April, 2,000 arrests have been made and five are still in prison.

In relation to similar protests staged on the M25 on Monday the Met and Surrey Police forces today announced eight people have been charged with conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.