Islington Green Party councillor Caroline Russell speaking in Trafalgar Square

A HOLLOWAY mother has appealed to Jeremy Corbyn to fight against a police clampdown on climate protesters after she was stopped and searched on Tuesday morning.

The Met Police have come under fire this week from climate change activists Extinction Rebellion after putting a blanket ban on any protests across the capital.

Islington Green Party councillor Caroline Russell spoke at a rally in Trafalgar Square saying it was an “extraordinary” decision by the police not to allow a “single space available for legal assembly and peaceful protest”.

Helena Farstad, an environmental consultant from Jeremy Corbyn’s Islington North constituency, was attempting to cross Lambeth Bridge when she was halted by police on Monday.

“There were about 80 officers on the bridge,” said Ms Farstad. “I was stopped and questioned about where I was going and asked to open my bag.”

The mother-of-two, who helped set up the Islington Clean Air Parents group, was wearing an Extinction Rebellion sticker on her sleeve. When she asked police why she was being questioned, one officer pointed to her sticker.

She was told she could not cross the bridge unescorted and she would be arrested if she stopped on the bridge or assembled with other people.

Two police officers followed her as she crossed.

“This is about civil liberties,” Ms Farstad said. “This has been a wake-up call about the kind of society we are living in.”

Writing to the Labour leader Ms Farstad said: “As my MP I hope you will be able to fight against any unlawful abuse of government power of which this seems to be a pertinent and acute example.”

A Met Police spokeswoman said: “Officers are fully aware one of the tactics and objectives of Extinction Rebellion is to block the bridges in central London. Officers do not hold the power to force members of the public to identify themselves in these circumstances, and have not been briefed to do so.

“However, officers on Lambeth Bridge have been proactively engaging with individuals crossing to ensure those with an intention of bringing London to a standstill are not successful in doing so.”