Four Insulate Britain protesters have been found guilty of causing a public nuisance after blocking the M25.

Venetia Carter, Alexander Rodger, Catherine Eastburn and Cameron Ford were all convicted at Hove Crown Court this afternoon.

The jury took less than half an hour to reach four unanimous verdicts.

Activist Carter, 58, of Sutherland Road, Brighton, defended her actions when she, alongside 11 other protesters, blocked the Swanley Interchange of the M25 in Kent on September 13, 2021.

Carter told the jury: “I was acutely aware of the disruption caused and am keenly reminded during this trial.

“I am as sorry now as I was then for the disruption. It was a difficult, stressful and scary experience that I feel I have no personal benefit from.”

Carter held back tears as she concluded her statement.

“Those of us who sat in the road that day are ordinary people,” Carter told the jury.

“We are scared of what lies in store for us and our children if things carry on as they are.”

The trial, which began on Monday, April 17 at Hove Crown Court saw Carter, Eastburn and Ford defending themselves.

Alexander Roger,32, of Ditchling Road, was represented by Raj Chada.

All four defendants denied the charges.

Previously, the court heard the protesters, all wearing orange high-visibility tabards, walked into the busy road junction after a traffic light turned red.

They unfurled a banner across the road and then sat down across the carriageway blocking the junction.

The mass trespass blocked the road for more than three hours from 8am.

Summing up today, Alex Young, prosecuting, said: “The defendants set out to cause maximum disruption to major roads. This was partly to cause change in government policy and partly to get publicity.

“They had good intentions, but intentions good or otherwise are irrelevant in law. People acting in good faith can nonetheless cause damage to others’ lives.

“Their view of the world and view of what needed to be done trumped all other considerations.

“They decided to inflict misery, hardship and financial loss on a section of the public.”

Judge Stephen Mooney will sentence the group on June 9.

The charge of causing a public nuisance carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both.

However, he indicated that he was unlikely to give jail sentences.