Former Paralympian climbs onto HS2 drill for Extinction Rebellion protest to 'protect London's drinking water'

A partially sighted former Paralympian is among two Extinction Rebellion activists who have disrupted HS2 drilling by climbing on to machinery in west London.

James Brown, a former Paralympic cyclist, climbed on to the roof of the vehicle in Colne Valley, which includes a newly-arrived 100ft drill.

He and his fellow activist, named only as Jimmy, unfurled a banner on Tuesday reading: “Protect London’s Drinking Water: Stop HS2."

They have food and supplies to last for several days and have said they have no intention of coming down unless removed, an XR spokesman said.

Mr Brown was accused of causing a public nuisance in October after he glued himself to a British Airways plane at London City Airport.

The pair said they aim to prevent HS2 from potentially contaminating London’s drinking water.

Speaking before climbing on to the drill, Mr Brown said: “We’ve got to do whatever we can to halt work if possible.

"We’ve got to slow this thing down, ultimately just make it too hard for them to continue.

“Today they’re starting drilling into the chalk aquifer that’s basically a natural filtration system for London’s water supply.

“Once they drill into that, there’s a lot of toxins and waste in the surrounding environment that’s going to go straight into the water supply and poison it, and that’s going to affect 20% of London’s population – that’s 3.2 million people.

“They can maybe treat the water, add more chemicals to it. But, at a time when clean water’s in short supply and is only going to get worse, we ought to be respecting our natural means of water filtration and clean water. We’re going to need it.”

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