Bonfire night served an ideal opportunity for climate change protestors to spread their message across Deal, Dover and Sandwich.

Up to 50 people turned out at Deal Railway Station where local activists were sprawled across the pavement with placards warning of pollution and habitat loss.

Onlookers also witnessed a pop-up performance by the synchronised Green Barrows, a troupe of demonstrators walking with wheelbarrows, cleaning as they went. Poems were also read aloud.

A group in Sandwich also held a rally outside Sandwich Railway Station with posters and banners calling for climate justice.

In Dover, members of Kent Climate Change Coalition gathered in the Pencester area to sing 'We say, NO COP26, cop-out.'

Simon Dundas of Sandwich Environmental Conservation Group: "More people, at last, are waking up to the critical tipping points we are reaching.

“At Sandwich station we met many people of all backgrounds who really want to make a difference, halving rail fares could make a dramatic reduction to Kent’s carbon footprint.

"This is affecting millions across the world and thousands here in Kent also where we’ve seen the maps of all the areas that will be underwater by 2050 if serious action isn’t taken by the powerful.”

The local demonstrations came midway through the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, which has seen world leaders gather to set out the action they are taking and commit to curb deforestation, phase out coal, end funding for fossil fuels abroad and cut methane emissions.

Protests took place nationwide including in central London and other cities around the UK.

Janet Wakeman of Deal-based, East Kent Climate Action said: ”We’ve seen forest fires and floods worldwide caused by climate crisis.

"Chatham House risk assessment of Septemeber 2021 shows we are on course to miss the 1.5 degrees of warming because a lack of international cooperation. We are instead on course for 2.7 degrees.

—

"We’ve seen the predicted coastal changes this would bring to our Kent doorsteps."

Liz Hayes of Transition Town Dover said: "We are doing what we can as individuals, but we need those with economic and government power to take much more real, honest action..”

Dover District Council says it has acknowledged the serious impact of climate change globally, and alongside other councils in Kent and the UK, has declared a Climate Change Emergency.

A cross party Climate Change Member Working Group has overseen the development of a Climate Change Strategy, which includes the aim for DDC to become a net zero carbon emitter by 2030 at the latest (57% cut in emissions in 2020/21 from baseline year).

The Council has also committed to support the whole district to be carbon neutral by 2050 (46% cut in emissions in 2020/21 from baseline year).

Read more: All the latest news from Deal