Extinction Rebellion has been warned by Met Police about a potential protest at Heathrow Airport involving drones.
At the end of May it emerged the climate change activists are considering using drones to shut the airport down this summer in a campaign against plans to build a third runway.
The proposal would mark a significant escalation by the group, which mobilised thousands of people in a peaceful civil disobedience campaign that brought parts of central London to a standstill in April.
On Friday morning, the group’s Lewisham branch brought traffic in South-East London to a standstill in protest against inaction over air pollution.
Deputy assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor, released a statement on Friday regarding the planned protest on Tuesday 18 at the airport.
He said a policing plan involving specialist officers from across the Met is in place in preparation.
He said: “This plan covers the unique challenges that come with a protest being held at an airport. We are determined to play our part in keeping the airspace over London’s airports safe for the thousands of planes flying in and out every week.”
Regarding the speculation that protestors will use drones in order to disrupt business at Heathrow, he said: “I want to be absolutely clear that anyone caught illegally using a drone can expect to be dealt with in line with the law.
“If flown into the path of an aircraft, a drone has the potential to cause great harm to those on board. Affecting the safety of aircraft passengers is very different to blocking roads around London, and should this happen, the consequences will reflect the severity of the offence. Endangering the safety of an aircraft can result in a life sentence.”
“As we have seen, the illegal use of drones at airports also has the capability to cause great disruption to the public, not only in London, but internationally. The airport is part of our national infrastructure, and we will not allow the illegal activity of protestors to cause disruption and misery to thousands.”
He said the Met Police would be deploying resources - both in terms of officers and equipment - to monitor the airspace around Heathrow and quickly detect and disrupt any illegal drone activity.
He said this kind of activity has an impact on frontline policing.
He said: “This has the potential to cause widespread disruption, and in order to prevent this happening we have drawn vital police resources from across the capital.
“We would urge anybody intending to join this event with a view to committing criminal activity, whether considered peaceful or not, to strongly reconsider.”
Extinction Rebellion were approached by HuffPost UK for a comment, however the group declined. They intend to put a statement out on Sunday.
When previous reports regarding a planned drone protest emerged, the group released a statement which said: “Extinction Rebellion is fully committed to nonviolence and will not take action that would put airline passengers at risk. Reports to the contrary are the result of a misconstrued interpretation of a document circulated within the movement asking for feedback.
“In the face of climate and ecological collapse we continue to build a peaceful movement with nonviolence at its heart.
“Further information on our planned actions over the summer will be available once we have concluded the consultation process with the movement.”