POLICE arrested 86 protesters over a six-week period in a mammoth operation against Just Stop Oil – costing over £4.5million.
The Metropolitan Police missed out on what would be over 13,000 shifts, taking officers off the streets to tackle local crime.
Cops say the recent Just Stop Oil stunts across London have caused "significant impact" on people's lives across the capital.
The Met's deputy assistant commissioner, Ade Adelekan, said: "Just Stop Oil's intent has been clear on disrupting road users.
"This has caused significant impact to the public and officers have been responding as swiftly as possible once aware of the incidents."
According to officers, their actions caused most protesters to "exit the highway within minutes".
Figures show that of the 86 arrests made within this operation, 49 charges have been made, Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
DAC Adelekan added: "We know that this action has been very frustrating for the public who just want to carry on with their day-to-day business.
"We would urge the public not to intervene or take matters into their own hands, but to call the police…
"…let us know where the incident is and we will get to the scene quickly.
"It may look like we are not responding quickly enough, however policing protests is complex and there are steps officers must take to make sure our response is lawful and appropriate.
"You can see from both the arrest and charge figures that we are taking this operation very seriously…
"…and once a protest is deemed to have caused serious disruption or may do so, we are taking swift action to stop it."
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