Environmental campaigners linked to a group which staged a semi-naked protest in the House of Commons have mobilised in Southend.

Protesters from the Extinction Rebellion group caused a scene in the public gallery overlooking a parliamentary debate on Monday night.

Some 13 men and women were arrested following the protest while MPs debated Brexit.

A Southend branch of Extinction Rebellion has now formed and held its inaugural meeting at the Alex pub on Tuesday night.

The group has no plans to launch any headline-grabbing protests akin to its London counterparts, but instead intends to raise awareness of what is sees as media side-lining of dire environmental warnings.

Rose Cleary, 28, from Westcliff is spearheading the 20-strong group.

She said: “We formed at the beginning of March to spread awareness of environmental issues to the local community. Some of our members are members of Friends of the Earth and the local Green Party.

“The deadly effects of global warming are already well underway - but the resources are available for us to stop this. So far in the UK we have been extremely lucky compared to places such as Mozambique, who have already lost an entire city to climate change.

“But if we don’t take action now, it won’t be long before massive humanitarian crisis is on our own doorsteps, where it will be much harder to ignore.”

Ms Cleary added: “We can’t avoid that this is frightening. Therefore by demonstrating what people can do to stop this - mainly pressuring the Government to take on these sustainable resources - we can turn fear into action.

“We only have 12 years left to make the change before climate change is irreversible. We can stop this - it will take a massive scale effort, but we can do it.”

At its first meeting the group discussed coverage of the “ecological crisis” in the media, “particularly the BBC”.

The group will be travelling to London on April 15 for a gathering during international Rebellion Week.

For further information, people can contact xrsouthend@gmail.com.