One of the Met Police’s most senior officers today warned Extinction Rebellion protesters planning to use drones at Heathrow Airport that it would be “reckless in the extreme”.
Sir Stephen House Deputy Commissioner of the Met Police made the warning during questioning at the London Assembly this morning.
The climate change protest group has previously said it has not decided on whether they will use drones to disrupt Heathrow this summer.
The group is planning 10 days of disruption in July unless plans to expand the airport are scrapped.
Sir Stephen House told the London Assembly: “I would take this moment to urge Extinction Rebellion not to use drones at Heathrow. Not least from the public safety point of view.
“They are extremely dangerous. Particularly in a crowded airspace like Heathrow. To do so would be reckless in the extreme and would therefore attract some pretty severe penalties in legislation were they to do so.
“We’ve read the reports themselves and we are looking into the matter. That’s not to say more powers won’t come along.
“If it’s used more – people may feel we need more legislation at least more draconian. Because it’s a threat to public safety.”
Activists have held internal discussions about using drones to ground flights, according to documents shared online.
However, the group has said that it is “fully committed to nonviolence” and will “not take action that would put airline passengers at risk.”
They said: “Reports to the contrary are the result of a misconstrued interpretation of a document circulated within the movement asking for feedback.”
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