London Southend Airport secures injunction to stop protests

London Southend Airport has secured a High Court injunction to stop would-be environmental protesters from trespassing on its land.

It followed several other sites gaining similar orders in recent weeks to protect against protests by groups including Just Stop Oil (JSO).

Lawyers for the airport in Essex told a hearing earlier it was a “significant and busy international airport” that “remains exposed”.

Mrs Justice Farbey granted the injunction for the next five years, with a review to take place in 12 months.

Southend Airport was the only London airport to not have an injunction of this kind, the High Court was told.

“This is unlikely to have escaped the attention of JSO activists and therefore exacerbates the risk faced by this airport,” said Tom Roscoe, who was representing the airport.

Mr Roscoe said it was “an attractive target” for protesters because of its “strategic status” and the layout of the site made it “vulnerable”.

The court in London heard that JSO said in July this year its supporters “will be taking action at airports this summer”.

Potential disruption included people cutting through airport fences, gluing themselves to runways and staging sit-ins at terminals.

The court also heard JSO had targeted London Southend in November 2021, when 12 activists entered the terminal with three oil drums, “disrupting the airport at large”.

The site, which Mr Roscoe said handled between 33,000 and 37,000 passengers per month in the summer, had also been the target of action by another environmental group, Extinction Rebellion.

No members of JSO or any other protest group attended Wednesday’s hearing and were not represented.

Mrs Justice Farbey granted the injunction and said it was “no more than is necessary and proportionate” and that further protests could cause “significant disruption”.

She said: “It is very likely that the anticipated actions of the protesters would substantially interfere with the claimants’ operation of the airport as a whole.”

After the ruling, a spokesman for the airport said: “Passengers heading off on a well-earned summer holiday or an overdue visit to friends and family can be assured that London Southend has taken every possible step to ensure smooth travel.”