A 79-year-old vicar was among Insulate Britain protesters arrested as they launched fresh demonstrations near London, Birmingham and Manchester.

The group said that around 60 demonstrators descended on junction 23 of the M25 near London, junction 6 of the M56 in Manchester and the A4400 in Birmingham on Tuesday morning.

The London and Manchester roads are part of the strategic road network and covered by a super injunction granted to National Highways last week.

Around 20 demonstrators arrived at the M25 but were stopped by police from getting into the road at about 8am.

Six sat on the pavement with a banner, and some glued themselves to the ground.

Another two managed to glue themselves to one lane of the carriageway on a quiet part of the roundabout.

A group of officers have been lifting activists from the pavement and putting them in the back of a van.

Reverend Sue Parfitt, 79, a retired family therapist from Bristol, was among those detained.

Insulate Britain protests
Reverend Sue Parfitt is led away by police (Ian West/PA)

More than a dozen officers and seven police vehicles were at the scene.

Some passers-by shouted expletives at the protesters while other beeped their horns.

Jess, 25, who had glued her hand to the road, said: “Before we started doing this no-one was talking about insulation, nobody cared about it, nobody knew it was an issue now, and it’s been in the newspapers and it’s been all over people’s dinner table conversations for the last six weeks.

“They say ‘we agree with your cause but not the tactics’, but at the end of the day they only know about our cause because of our tactics.”

Nine demonstrators have received committal papers in relation to an injunction granted to National Highways to curb activist roadblocks, an Insulate Britain spokesperson confirmed.

Insulate Britain protests
Police speak to protesters at the junction of the M25 and the A1 (Ian West/PA)

Those who break the injunctions could be found in contempt of court and face a maximum penalty of two years in prison or an unlimited fine.

Diana Warner, 62, a retired GP, said: “One of the important reasons for coming out today was to say we’re all together. It’s not just nine.”

Activists have blocked roads on 18 days since September 13, causing misery for drivers stuck in long queues of traffic.

Hertfordshire Police were called at 7.45am on Tuesday to reports of protesters near Junction 23 of the M25.

Police also received reports of protesters near the A1081 St Albans Road at around 8.20am.

Chief Superintendent Nick Caveney said: “Officers were at the scene within minutes, working quickly to make arrests and putting partial road closures in place in order to keep traffic flowing, meaning that disruption was kept to a minimum.

“Some 20 people were arrested in connection with the protest activity in Hertfordshire today, and will be taken to custody.

“Not only is purposely blocking a highway incredibly dangerous, it also affects countless members of the public who are inconvenienced as a result. We would like to thank motorists for their patience while officers dealt with the matter this morning.”

Greater Manchester Police said officers responded to the protest on Wilmslow Road (A538) near junction 6 of the M56 and Manchester Airport.

The force arrested 11 people on suspicion of causing danger to road users.

West Midlands Police said around 20 people “briefly and intermittently” blocked traffic on the A4400 for around one hour at around 9am but caused only “minimal disruption” before “dispersing peacefully”.

The force made no arrests.

So far, 161 people have been involved in the roadblock campaign and there have been 770 arrests, excluding Tuesday’s action.