At the end of the first week of Extinction Rebellion’s ambitious ‘Autumn uprising’, several activists glued themselves to the main doors of the BBC HQ at Broadcasting House in central London.

Staff were held in long queues to enter the building via security checks at a rear door, while hundreds of rebel activists took over the whole of the main forecourt for speeches, music and a public assembly for the rest of the day.

Despite negotiations with senior BBC staff throughout the action, no-one from the BBC made themselves available to speak with the crowd, and the BBC also refused to arrange a meeting during the next week between a small delegation of climate and ecological scientists and BBC staff.

Police threatened mass arrests to enforce a public order to move the protest to Trafalgar Square, but eventually backed down, and the action continued until after the BBC 10pm news. Two men who climbed onto the canopy were arrested later, along with the people glued to the doors.

ITV News covered the protest with a live segment in their tea-time bulletin, but BBC national news made no comment, and BBC London mentioned it in passing during an interview with Metropolitan Chief Commissioner Cressida Dicks in the context of police resources being drawn away from knife crime.