Scots officers drafted in to help police Extinction Rebellion demos in London

Up to 100 Scots officers are being sent to London as Extinction Rebellion protests stretch police resources.

The public order officers will work with colleagues in the Met responding to the climate change demonstrations.

They will be deployed early this week after Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone approved the request from the National Police Co-ordination Centre on behalf of the Met.

Met Police chief Cressida Dick said the force has been “stretched” by the protests, with more than 1,200 arrests made since the demonstrations began on Monday.

But Livingstone said it would not undermine Police Scotland’s ability to protect the public at home.

He said: “Scotland has benefited from mutual aid in the past and will do so again in the future. It’s therefore appropriate that, as the UK’s second biggest police service, we supply officers when asked to do so by other forces.”

Meanwhile, a former Paralympic cyclist has denied climbing on to a British Airways plane and gluing himself to it during the protests.

James Brown, 55, denies causing a public nuisance by climbing on top of the aircraft at London City Airport on Thursday. Yesterday, more than 100 medical staff marched on Parliament Square, London, in support of the eco-activists.