Rishi Sunak to hand police new powers within weeks to stop eco-groups bringing Britain’s roads to a halt

RISHI Sunak will hand police new powers within weeks to stop eco-groups disrupting traffic.

The PM is preparing plans also thought to include guidance on how officers can better enforce existing laws.

It comes after he promised police chiefs “whatever they need” to tackle disruption that brings Britain’s roads to a halt.

Officers have been criticsed for failing to move on activists from groups such as Just Stop Oil who cause gridlock by glueing themselves to roads and bridges.

Mr Sunak defended peaceful protest as a “democratic tradition” but said it must be “balanced with the rights of everyone else to go about their lives freely”.

He added: “We have been looking at how we can strengthen our laws to provide police with the clarity they need to stop serious disruption and will come forward with those plans in the coming weeks.

“We cannot and will not have protests conducted by a small minority disrupting the lives of the hard-working majority.”

Writing for Conservative Home, he vowed: “We’re going to put a stop to it.”

The clampdown comes on top of the new Public Order Bill, which will prevent protesters locking on to buildings and blocking key infrastructure.

Repeat offenders could be served with prevention orders.

The PM’s spokesman said: “It’s important we continually look at ensuring police have any powers or clarity they need to act.

“We need to look at if more is needed, given the change of approach we’ve seen with new tactics.”