An access road to Heathrow airport was blockaded on Saturday morning during a protest over the proposed third runway.

Activists for RisingUp! claim Theresa May’s go-ahead for the expansion will break UK emission limits and make achieving the Paris Agreement climate goals impossible.

Around 250 people took part in the demonstration and 15 arrests were made in total.

The group believe climate change is “a racist crisis”, which refers to how poor communities in places like Bangladesh are destroyed so rich countries like the UK can enjoy convenient air travel.

The group say the UK is among the countries least vulnerable to climate change but one of the worst polluters in the world per capita.

It says even if the expansion does not go ahead, a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions by 2050 will come from the aviation industry.

Genny Scherer, a 70-year-old activist who attended the protest said: “It’s one or the other: new runways or a safe climate. This is what democracy looks like when politicians drop their election promises, instead allowing climate change to wreck lives of poorer people globally. I want my nephews and nieces to grow up in a safe climate, just like I was able to.”

If Heathrow does expand, the airport will be Britain’s biggest producer of emissions, even taking power stations into account.