A GROUP of 30 protestors interrupted a council meeting to oppose moves for sustainable transport.

The members of the ‘Concerned Citizens’ group, who were also involved with the A12 go slow protests, attended the full Colchester Council meeting on Tuesday night.

A video shared by the group shows the protesters taunting councillors, booing and jeering, shouting and saying: "We are watching you lot. And we are going to remove every single one of you... You're hopeless."

Video credit: Concerned Citizens group

The group was unfavourable towards the council’s exploration of sustainable travel and the promotion of electric-fuelled transport.

Members expressed fears of a move towards the implementation of a 15 minute neighbourhood plan which has been introduced in Oxford.

In Oxford the move aims to reduce traffic in the city centre and make city living more pleasant.

The episode was live-streamed via the Colchester City Council YouTube channel, which depicts the concerned citizens asking councillors questions regarding its sustainability policies, eventually being given chairs and a microphone.

Speaking to the Gazette after the meeting, a member of the group said: “We caused uproar to the point where they let us speak.

"We were asking questions about sustainability and electricity, which we all know isn’t sustainable.

“They kept asking us to keep quiet or we would have to leave, so we did until someone mentioned climate emergency. That set several of us off as we think there isn’t a climate emergency.”

The member also claimed: “This is just propaganda put about by the Government to increase taxes and control people."

He said: “We are still in a mini-ice age, which is a continuation from the end of the Tudor period. The ice on the Antarctic has been increasing since 1999. There’s lots of scientific evidence that what they’re telling us isn’t true.”

Colchester Council leader David King was not at the meeting but he stated he had received several calls from concerned councillors.

He said: “There were difficult and uncomfortable moments for councillors, I received several calls. There was upset and worry.

 “I know that there was disruption at the beginning of the meeting. The response to this was to remind protestors they do have a right to have their say and as a council, we encourage members of the public to attend but not to disrupt proceedings.

“This is about a respectful balance between public protests, the right to be heard, and the safety and comfort of our councillors.

“We want passion from members of the public about the things that matter, but we have to have boundaries.”