Grieving son ‘missed dad’s funeral because of M25 eco protest’
Just Stop Oil campaigners have blocked traffic on Britain's busiest motorway four days in a row this week.
A grieving son missed his father’s funeral because of road chaos caused by environmental protesters.
Tim Bambury set off from his home in Buckinghamshire towards Essex when he was caught up in gridlock traffic on Monday.
He learned en route that Just Stop Oil protesters had blocked parts of the M25, a stunt the group have repeated throughout the week.
Mr Bambury says he got off the motorway but smaller roads were backed up with cars looking for an alternative route, leaving him with no hope of being there to bury his loved one.
When he realised there was no chance of arriving on time, he called his family to say say ‘there’s nothing we can do here, we just have to go back’.
He told ITV Meridian: ‘I called my mum, who’s 79, and was very upset as you can imagine.
‘My brother and his family were there, I wanted to be there, and I had a eulogy that I was going to say about my father.
‘These people have forced me not to go to my own father’s funeral by their actions and it’s not like I can get a second chance at this.
‘I’ll never forget what they’ve done and I’ll never forgive what they have done.’
Campaigners are holding up traffic on the M25 again today and have vowed to continue disrupting Britain’s busiest motorway.
The group, which is calling for the government to stop issuing new oil and gas drilling licences, says its members have been arrested 2,000 times since its activities began in April.
Responding to Mr Bambury, a Just Stop Oil spokesperson told ITV: ‘It’s just awful – it’s terrible that this happens. I wish it didn’t happen but we don’t have a choice at the moment.
‘We feel like this action has to be taken to bring the government to account on what they’re not doing.’
An Essex Police officer was injured yesterday when a lorry crashed into a rolling roadblock on the M25.
The force said it happened while they were trying to deal with a protester in the road.
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