50 protestors stage 'funeral' for 'Natural World' outside Shropshire Council HQ - in pictures

Around 50 protestors from the Shrewsbury branch of Extinction Rebellion staged a funeral procession through the town before gathering outside Shirehall.

The march was complete with a coffin, pallbearers, wreaths, and a funeral band. 'Mourners' were dressed in black and some held placards reading 'in loving memory of our planet'.

Julia Barnsley, a retired lecturer, said she dressed in black to join the protest because she was concerned by the council’s lack of action.

“Quite simply, the council isn’t acting quickly enough," she said.

"We call on them to cancel the North West Relief Road and invest the money in low-carbon infrastructure that will create a cleaner greener Shropshire and boost the local economy with new jobs.

"We also call on the council to divest its pension fund from fossil fuels companies – including BlackRock, a company which is contributing to destruction in the Amazon rainforest.

"It is disgraceful that our councillors are lining their pockets while the Amazon burns. How can they justify that?”

Council security officers attempted to block the protestors as they carried a full sized black coffin through the main entrance and laid it down in the reception area.

Police officers were also present at the demonstration.

Clive Wright, the council's chief executive, spoke with the group and agreed to allow four members into the meeting.

In the council chamber, members had taken their seats when the four protestors stood up at the front of the room and began to make a speech.

One said: "You are doing nothing to alleviate the climate emergency."

They were however told they would not be allowed to speak, and councillors began to stand up and walk out of the meeting.

Some however chose to remain in their seats, including the Liberal Democrat group.

Green Party councillor Julian Dean applauded as the activists left the room, saying they had made their point.

The speech they had planned to give said: "We are Extinction Rebellion Shrewsbury – a group of people who have come together to tell the truth about the ecological crisis we all face. And today to mourn the loss that the climate emergency is creating.

"We are here to highlight that national and local governments are not doing enough.

"We want people to invest in Shropshire not because a few miles of the A5 have been upgraded to a motorway by changing the road signs from green to blue.

"We want people to invest in Shropshire because smart leaders within our community realise that there is no economy on a dead planet.

"That those leaders realise that Shropshire is blessed with all of the resources – natural, human, financial, technological – to lead and deliver transformative climate action."

Following the meeting, group spokesman Jonathan Bruton said: “Extinction Rebellion is simply asking the council to honour the promise they made when they declared a climate emergency in May.

"The longer the council delays its response to the emergency, the more it becomes clear that they are digging our graves through their failure to act.

"We hope that our funeral procession will be a stark reminder of exactly what is at stake here.

"This is not a drill. It is – in their own words – a climate emergency. They need to start acting like it.”