Police make arrests as coach bound for Bibby Stockholm leaves without migrants ... trends now
Police have arrested a number of people today as a coach bound for the Bibby Stockholm barge left without migrants after a mob blocked its path.
Gen Z protesters answered calls to descend on Peckham, south-east London, as beanie-hat wearing activists arrived on Lime bikes and dumped them in front of the coach.
Scotland Yard confirmed this afternoon they had arrested a number of people for offences including obstruction of the highway, and one for a racially aggravated public order offence. The force did not specify how people had been taken into custody.
Scuffles earlier broke out between officers and protesters as police formed a ring of steel around the coach and forcibly removed activists from the road and placing them into the back of vans.
The activists appear to be targeting other hotels in the capital with another post on X asking people to head to a location in Hounslow, west London, saying 'we need numbers now!'.
Metropolitan Police officers form a ring of steel around a coach which was bound for the Bibby Stockholm barge
The activists appear to be targeting other hotels in the capital with another post on X asking people to head to a location in Hounslow, west London
Scuffles earlier broke out between officers and protesters as police forcibly removed activists from the road and placing them into the back of vans
The Met Police's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan warned the force would continue to take decisive action when needed.
'My officers had warned the group that obstructing the highway, and obstructing police, are criminal offences an that they could be arrested,' he said.
'We will always respect the right to peaceful protest but we have been clear that where there is serious disruption and criminality then we will take decisive action.'
Some Covid-mask wearing protesters formed a human chain around the vehicle designer clothes clad demonstrators smoked roll-ups, gorged on Haribo and swigged Magnum tonic wine as they sat in front of it.
In one clip, an officer can be seen pushing a man who is thrown back violently onto the road whilst in another a female police officer is seen wrestling with a masked cyclist who allegedly assaulted a TV news team on location.
This assailant is believed to have escaped on a bike and many other protesters are actively resisting their arrests.
The protest began shortly after 8am this morning when activists formed a human chain before letting down its tyres and hurling Lime bikes under its path to prevent it leaving.
The driver of the coach was 'shaken up' by the incident and has been escorted out of the vehicle.
Beanie-hat wearing protesters blocked the bus from moving outside the hotel in Peckham
Gen Z protesters stood guard outside the bus to block it from moving
The protesters were dressed for a night out on the town rather than activism with many sporting expensive trendy high street brands
A group of protesters sporting £180 Beats headphones and a £199 lululemon coat squat next to a police van
A masked man wearing a £300 North Face coat expresses solidarity with his comrades at the protest
An arrested protester in a luxury shawl looks outside of the window of a Metropolitan Police
Protesters dumped Lime bikes under the coach's path so it could not travel
Many of the attendees answered calls on social media to prevent the coach leaving
A masked protester being confronted by a Met Police officer during the protest
Gen Z protesters descended on Peckham after seeing call-outs on social media
Protesters formed a human chain around the bus to block it from moving
Covid-mask wearing protesters at the protest in Peckham
Police confronting a baseball-hat wearing activist
A man being removed from the protest by police
Hordes of young people answered calls on social media to attend the event which was organised in part by Soas Detainee Support.
A post on X by the extreme left organisation reads: 'Comrades have stopped our friends being taken to the Bibby barge - but more numbers needed!'
Activists are also planning to block coaches leaving from three other hotels in London where asylum seekers are being held.
The migrants scheduled to be moved to the government's floating compound in Dorset have been told to remain in the Best Western hotel until the situation has been resolved.
It is believed the coach was set to collect other passengers on its route to Dorset.
The asylum seekers had been told they would be collected on Thursday morning by coach to relocate to the Bibby Stockholm moored at Portland in Dorset.
Defending the police response, Home Secretary James Cleverly said: 'Housing migrants in hotels costs the British taxpayer millions of pounds every day.
'We will not allow this small group of students, posing for social media, to deter us from doing what is right for the British public.'
Explaining their actions, one protester said: 'We are trying to stop police deporting migrants.
Violent clashes have erupted between police officers and masked protesters in Peckham
In one clip, an officer can be seen pushing a man who is thrown back violently onto the road
A Lime bike appears to wedged behind a wheel of the coach in an attempt to stop it from moving
A female police officer was seen wrestling with a masked cyclist who allegedly assaulted a TV news team on location
Protesters being moved from the road have began chanting 'Who do you work for?'
Locals living in the area have expressed their dissatisfaction their street has been taken over by the protest
Police remove a protester from the scene of the blockade in Peckham
After hours of stalemate, the protest has descended into violence
Many of those being detained are actively resisting arrest
As a result of the blockade and police action, none of the migrants have left the hotel
Police are now making multiple arrests in an effort to clear the area
The asylum seekers had been told they would be collected on Thursday morning by coach to relocate to the Bibby Stockholm moored at Portland in Dorset
The Metropolitan Police had said that they 'have warned the groups that they could be arrested'
The group has let down the tyres of the coach to prevent it from leaving
The activists are chanting, playing music on the pavements and sitting in the road smoking roll up cigarettes and drinking tonic wine
Lime bikes have been wedged underneath the coach to further prevent its exit
The organised group has been chanting 'we will not be moved' and 'refugees are welcome here' whilst police attempt to defuse the situation
'These are human beings who don't deserve to be moved around like cattle. It's state-sponsored human trafficking, that's why we are here.
'Today they are moving them to Bibby Stockholm. We are going to block the method of transporting them.
'We will find any way to stop the coach from moving, whatever that looks like.'
Residents were not so happy however.
One local woman told MailOnline: 'It has disrupted our day, we were wondering why there are so many police officers.
'We've just come from voting. Some of those people are true refugees but the
