Five environmental activists who aimed to “create mass disruption” have been jailed for their role in protests that caused widespread traffic disruption on the M25.

The Just Stop Oil campaigners climbed gantries on the motorway in November 2022, forcing police to stop the traffic, in an attempt to cause gridlock across southern England.

People “suffered hours of delay” on 9 November 2022 as a result, Basildon Crown Court heard.

All the defendants pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing a public nuisance, as they were about to stand trial.

The defendants were all either retired, students or recent graduates at the time, the court heard.

Judge Shane Collery KC noted that an accident happened near one gantry and it was “fortunate more accidents did not occur”.

“It’s easy to be blasé and dismissive when it’s not your life that’s being disrupted,” he said.

He said the protesters “considered you knew better than everyone else”, and suggested an element may have been “the day out and perhaps the excitement of a day’s action”.

He accepted the defendants were not the organisers of the protest but said they were “willing volunteers”.

Protests over four successive days in November 2022 closed parts of the motorway in Kent, Surrey, Essex and Hertfordshire.

The judge said the court “accepts a conscientious motive may be a relevant consideration”.

However he said “your actions were disproportionate to your aims”.

He jailed George Simonson, 24, of Leeds, and 26-year-old Theresa Higginson of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, for two years.

Paul Bell, 24, of Exeter, was jailed for one year and 10 months, and he waved and blew kisses as he was led to the cells.

Gaie Delap, 77, of Bristol, and Paul Sousek, 73, of Bude in Cornwall were jailed for one year and eight months.

A sixth defendant, Daniel Johnson, 25, of Perth and Kinross in Scotland, given a 21-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

The judge ordered that the activists’ climbing equipment, locks and banners be confiscated.

Francesca Cociani, from Hodge Jones & Allen – who represents Delap, Bell, Johnson, and Higginson, said: “Today’s decision to imprison peaceful protesters is a grave injustice and does not align with the UK’s professed values.

“Peaceful protest is a fundamental right and a vital tool for enacting positive societal change.

“Increasingly lengthy prison terms for these types of individuals were previously unseen and it sends a disturbing message in our liberal democracy.

“We are exploring our options, including the possibility of an appeal, to challenge this decision and to defend the fundamental right to peaceful protest.”

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