Police have used specialist equipment to remove climate activists and have made 27 arrests after petrol pumps were smashed and forecourts blocked at two M25 service stations.

Supporters of Just Stop Oil used small orange hammers to batter display glass and covered pumps in spray paint after stopping motorists from entering forecourts at Cobham Services in Surrey and Clacket Lane Services in Surrey at 7am on Thursday.

Thirty-five people were involved in the action, according to the group.

By 2.30pm Surrey Police said both services are cleared and 27 people have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and aggravated trespass.

The forecourt at Cobham Services, where 16 of the arrests were made, has now been cleared. Unfortunately some of the petrol pumps remain closed due to the damage caused to them.

Officers used specialist removal equipment to shift protesters from the forecourt at Clacket Lane, including one protester who glued himself to the top of a lorry.

A spokesman said: "We appreciate this incident has been ongoing for some time and is causing considerable disruption but removing protesters who have glued themselves to vehicles and petrol pumps is a lengthy and complex process and has to be carried out using specialist equipment.

"Please bear with us while we continue to deal with these ongoing incidents."

One of the activists, Nathan McGovern, a 22-year-old student from Coventry, earlier said: “I refuse to stand by and watch as heatwaves and drought murder people across the global south and families in the UK are forced to choose between eating and heating.

“If politicians and bureaucrats refuse to act then it falls on ordinary people to do what they will not.”

Just Stop Oil described the sabotage of petrol pumps as “a significant escalation”.

The move is reminiscent of Insulate Britain’s protests between September and November last year, when M25 junctions were repeatedly blocked.

Just Stop Oil began its protests on April 1.

It has carried out a series of blockades of fuel terminals in south-east England and the Midlands, and targeted several high-profile football matches.

More than 1,000 arrests have been made.

The group said it will “continue the disruption until the Government makes a statement that it will end new oil and gas projects in the UK”.

Ten supporters arrested outside Kingsbury oil terminal on Wednesday are due to appear at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

They are charged with contempt of court relating to an injunction granted to North Warwickshire Borough Council which prohibited protests at the site.

Separately, a group of Insulate Britain protesters are due in court later today following disruption near the Port of Dover last year.