M25 protester from Cambridge sorry for delays but has no regrets

A former teacher who was jailed for bringing the M25 to a standstill said she was sorry for holding people up but “it was the right thing to do”.

Louise Lancaster from Grantchester, Cambridgeshire, was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to cause public nuisance in July 2024, one of Britain’s longest ever sentences for peaceful protest.

The 59-year-old joined the Just Stop Oil protest in 2022, which prosecutors said cost the police more than £1m and caused about 50,000 hours of delays to motorists.

Lancaster, who had her sentence reduced on appeal and is now out on licence, is the subject of a new Radio 4 documentary, Crossing the Line.

The climate activist was one of five jailed for their involvement in bringing part of the M25 to a standstill over four days in November 2022.

Forty-five Just Stop Oil protesters climbed gantries on the motorway, forcing police to stop the traffic, in an attempt to cause gridlock across southern England.

People missed flights, medical appointments and exams, two lorries collided and a police motorcyclist came off his bike during one of the protests on 9 November.

Speaking on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Lancaster told presenter Dotty Mcleod: “It was an experience and one I was prepared to do for what I was passionate about and what I believe was a right thing to do.

“I don’t agree that the government should put people who protest in prison but that’s the case at the moment, and I was prepared to take that.”

Lancaster served nine and a half months of her four-year jail sentence at HMP Bronzefield.

An activist can be charged with causing public nuisance if they do something that causes “serious harm” to the public, which is defined by Parliament as causing “serious annoyance” and “serious inconvenience”.

But the law says that someone cannot be found guilty of causing a public nuisance if they had a reasonable excuse for what they did.

The M25 protesters have repeatedly said their reasonable excuse was they were drawing attention to their fears for the planet, but judges said this was not a legal defence – as sitting in the road was not necessary to do this.

“Other methods of protesting like petitions and standing with placards was just not cutting it,” Lancaster added.

“You’ve got to think what is happening in the news massive floods have been killing people in Texas, we have had floods and wildfires in this country… people are dying because of those things.

“It was always a balance between what we could do, which would hopefully not hurt or damage anyone’s life, to mitigate the threat to life that is coming down the road,” she said.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously criticised the group’s actions and said protesters must face the full force of the law.

Lancaster had rented a safe house for activists due to take part in the M25 demonstrations, and bought climbing equipment.

The judge sentencing Lancaster said: “Each of you has some time ago crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic.

“You have appointed yourselves as the sole arbiters of what should be done about climate change, bound neither by the principles of democracy nor the rule of law.”

The Radio 4 documentary by journalist and producer, Patrick Steel, explored how Lancaster went from a special educational needs teacher, to law-breaking direct action eco-activist and criminal.

Lancaster said: “For each individual person who was held up I am very, very sorry they were held up and caught up in that, which was basically targeted on the government to try and get them to the table, to try and get them to take positive action to mitigate climate breakdown.”

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has been contacted for comment.