PEOPLE from Wiltshire concerned about climate change and the extinction crisis joined thousands of protesters who occupied five central London bridges on Saturday in an act of peaceful civil disobedience.

Judy Hindley, from Marlborough, the co-founder of Citizens' Climate Lobby UK, joined fellow members to distributed leaflets about the carbon fee and dividend system among the protesters.

"People seemed so happy about it - a policy to campaign on that could decarbonize the economy in 20 years, while creating jobs and shifting cash to people who need it most," she said.

Demonstrators occupied Southwark, Blackfriars, Waterloo, Westminster and Lambeth bridges as part of a demonstration organised by a new group called Extinction Rebellion. Protesters of all ages gathered on the bridges from 10am on Saturday, and an hour later, blocked them all. The aim was to urge governments to treat the threats of climate breakdown and extinction as a crisis.

Marc Huynh, from Chippenham, also joined the protest. He said:

“I am extremely concerned about recent reports about just how serious the threat to our climate is, and how little time we have to alleviate the situation. I am also worried about the destruction of our environment and global loss of wildlife. It’s time we treated this situation as a crisis.”

A recent WWF report said humanity had wiped out 60 per cent of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles since 1970, while a United Nations report has warned we have only 12 years to limit climate change and cut the risk of extreme weather, heat, floods and poverty.

Carbon fee and dividend proposes a Government tax on fossil fuels, the proceeds of which are shared by British citizens, with the tax increasing over time until the economy is decarbonised.

Louisa Davison, from the national steering committee, runs an active CCL UK group, which meets at the Lamb pub in Marlborough. For more information, visit citizensclimatelobby.uk.