Extinction Rebellion protesters target London Stock Exchange and Canary Wharf

Extinction Rebellion protesters are targeting London's financial districts on what is meant to be the final day of disruptive demonstrations as they push for action on climate change.

Protesters glued themselves together outside entrances at the London Stock Exchange in the City of London, and climbed on top of a DLR train at Canary Wharf during the morning rush.

At the stock exchange, two men and five women glued themselves to a wall and to each other, and a further six eco-protesters – five men and one woman – then glued themselves to a second entrance to prevent people from entering.

As police look on, they are wearing financial ticker-style LED signs reading "Climate emergency", "Tell the truth" and "You can't eat money".

The protesters are dressed in black suits and red ties, and covering their faces with "Robocop style" plastic masks bearing the group's logo in gold paint.

At Canary Wharf in east London, at least four people were on top on the DLR train holding signs saying "Business as usual = death" and "Don't jail the canaries", causing delays for commuters.

Thursday's protests are part of co-ordinated action against the financial industry, which Extinction Rebellion claims facilities climate change.

The group had warned that it planned to cause rush hour disruption in London's financial district before bringing an end to days of protests in the centre of the city.

Demonstrators said they would swarm into the Square Mile to cause roadblocks, targeting big business and banking.

The group said in a statement: "Extinction Rebellion will focus the financial industry and the corrosive impacts of the financial sector on the world we live in.

"First up the London Stock Exchange where protesters are glued on to the front and back entrances preventing people from entering.

"The protesters are dressed in suits with Robocop style masks on their faces with the golden Extinction symbol painted on them.

"On their chests they have text on financial ticker style LED screens saying: ‘tell the truth’, ‘climate emergency’ and ‘you can’t eat money’."

It added: "Many of the most environmentally destructive companies in the world have their stock market listings at the London Stock Exchange. This institution literally trades in the devastation of our planet.

"These include fossil fuel and highly destructive mining businesses as well as those who are creating ecological catastrophe, such as the cutting down of virgin rainforest for palm oil production.

"Extinction Rebellion (XR) is demanding the LSE tells the truth about the true impact of the companies they list."

XR named some of the London Stock Exchange protesters as research scientist Alan Heath, 55, support worker Jen Witts, 38, retired head teacher Sian Vaughan 53, gardener and artist Debbie Rees, 57, tutor and learning support worker Kef Shimidzu, 55, civil servant Lucy Galvin, 53, and retiree Johnny Woon, 60, tree surgeon Ben Barrage, 42, and archaeologist Dr Sandy Biden-Hoskins, 64.

A spokeswoman for the group said earlier: "There's a public event which is what we are calling swarming, where at different locations in the City people will swarm into the roads and block the roads."

She said the area is being targeted because "the financial industry is responsible for funding climate and ecological destruction and we are calling on them, the companies and the institutions that allow this to happen, to tell the truth".

She added: "And we're asking the Government to take action to address the climate emergency."

On Wednesday, protesters in London agreed to remove blockades and campsites at Marble Arch and Parliament Square after causing mass disruption in recent weeks.

Eco-protesters have blocked roads and bridges, smashed a door at the Shell building and held a semi-nude protest in parliament while urging the Government to declare a climate emergency to avoid what it calls the "sixth mass extinction" of species on Earth.

In a statement announcing the end of their action Extinction Rebellion said: "We would like to thank Londoners for opening their hearts and demonstrating their willingness to act on that truth.

"We know we have disrupted your lives. We do not do this lightly. We only do this because this is an emergency.

"Around the planet, a long-awaited and much-needed conversation has begun.

"People have taken to the streets and raised the alarm in more than 80 cities in 33 countries.

"People are talking about the climate and ecological emergency in ways that we never imagined."

The group added: "It is now time to go back into our communities, whether in London, around the UK or internationally."

XR also said there will be a "closing ceremony" at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park at 5pm.

Extinction Rebellion action has seen Waterloo Bridge, Marble Arch and Oxford Circus blocked and a "die in" at the Natural History Museum.

Activists have glued themselves to trains, chained themselves to objects, and some could even be seen perching in hammocks up trees overlooking Parliament Square.

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