Brexiteers in ‘go-slow’ protests charged with driving offences

Pro-Brexit campaigners who took part in ‘go-slow’ demonstrations during rush hour will be prosecuted for inconsiderate driving.

Organisers Brexit Direct Action staged the protests as the deadline for the UK to leave the EU was pushed back to April 12.

They had aimed to target up to 40 locations over the weekend including the M25, M6 and M1, and traffic could be seen piling up across the south west coast, as well as Hull and Lancashire in the north and parts of north Wales.

Devon and Cornwall Police said they stopped the convoys on the A30 and M5 and prosecuted the two lead drivers of both for careless and inconsiderate driving.

The force said it had warned organisers beforehand to make sure other motorists could get past them and not to drop down to unsafe speeds.

Inspector Simon Jenkinson said they were ‘happy to facilitate’ the protest as long as they did not bring the roads to a standstill.

But he added that the dawdling drivers had blocked both lanes of the A30 towards Cornwall and at least two lanes of the M5 northbound while travelling at speeds as low as 20pmh on the motorway, presenting a ‘significant risk’ to other drivers.

Highways England tweeted: ‘There have been a few issues but nothing of any major impact and at present everything is running as usual.’

Organiser Ian Charlesworth, 55, said: ‘The ultimate aim is to make sure come hell or high water that Britain leaves on March 29.’

He added that the protests could cause ‘serious gridlock’, which MPs and the Home Office ‘will be looking at’, but said he was unsure how effective they would be.

The protests have been organised through social media, with Mr Charlesworth’s Facebook group containing more than 21,000 members.

After this weekend’s protests he said a larger ‘national event’ is planned in London on March 29, should their demands not be met, which will coincide with the pro-Brexit March To Leave demonstration in Parliament Square.