Mayor Sadiq Khan said he shares the passion for tackling climate change, but called for the demonstrations to end. He wrote on Sunday that the actions of protesters is taking a “real toll on our city” and that Londoners have suffered too much disruption.

The Metropolitan Police says that 1065 arrests were made in the week to Easter Monday in connection with ongoing protests. A total of 71 people have been charged with offences including obstructing a highway.

The police force adds that said that it remains in frequent contact with the organisers to ensure that the serious disruption to Londoners is brought to a close as soon as possible and that only lawful and peaceful protests continue.

Yesterday protesters gathered at Marble Arch and marched towards Parliament Square to stage a so called ‘People’s Assembly’ to discuss climate and the ecology.

Extinction Rebellion representative Jayne Forbes told TP Weekly News yesterday that she expects the protests will end this Friday, by which time politicians will have heard the case for addressing climate change.

“We are deeply apologetic to those people who have been directly affected, but we are looking at the bigger picture. Government needs to do something about climate change now,” she said.

When asked what longer term transport changes the group would like to see, Jayne replied: “We are here to raise the issues; it is up to the experts to decide” but added that a personal view is to see a carbon ration introduced for people’s travel.

Energy Minister Claire Perry – a former Transport Minister – tweeted last week that she could not see how “disrupting one of the world’s busiest transport systems, blocking emergency routes and making life difficult for so many is going to build consensus and support for the changes we need”. Climate action, she added, must be “broad, just and progressive”.

A Transport for London spokesman said of the travel disruptions: “We are working closely with the police to manage the impact on London’s transport network. We would encourage people to check their journeys before they travel.”