WATCH: Extinction Rebellion co-founder climbs UK govt building carrying hammer, as police ban XR protests from London

The co-founder of Extinction Rebellion (XR) has climbed on top of the entrance of the Department for Transport (DfT) building and hammered the glass, as London police ban activists from protesting anywhere in the capital.

Gail Bradbrook was seen striking the window of the UK government building using a hammer and screwdriver on Tuesday morning, with police, street bystanders, and DfT employees inside looking on. Other “rebels” of the climate change protest movement glued themselves to the building, according to XR.

The incident comes after London’s Metropolitan Police Service imposed a revised “section 14” order on Monday night, stating that “any assembly linked to the Extinction Rebellion 'Autumn Uprising' must stop their protests in the capital from 9pm BST.

Police officers soon after moved in on Trafalgar Square, which had been, until Monday evening, the only legitimate protest site, and demanded that the activists remove their tents.

The majority of XR protesters had decamped to a site in Vauxhall, south of the River Thames, and only a small number of tents and other infrastructure remained on the iconic square.

The blanket ban comes after 1,457 people were arrested during nine days of XR action in the heart of London.

Responding to the ‘zero tolerance’ crackdown, XR took to social media to slam the decision, describing it as “actions of dubious legality.”

They added that “these actions to protect an establishment that is criminally negligent in its inaction on ecological and #climatebreakdown.”

Bradbrook was eventually arrested shortly before 9am BST.

Police officers detain co-founder of the Extinction Rebellion group, Gail Bradbrook © Reuters / Henry Nicholls

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