CAMPAIGNERS are blockading oil depots across the UK - including the Esso terminal in Hythe.
Members of Extinction Rebellion Youth are staging a peaceful protest at the terminal, which is next door to Fawley refinery, run by ExxonMobil.
It coincides with the biggest squeeze in household bills in living memory, with families facing a huge hike in petrol prices and energy costs.
About ten members of Extinction Youth Rebellion are using a pink boat to block the entrance and exit to the Hythe terminal, which is off Cadland Road.
Two members of the group have chained themselves to the vessel.
A spokesperson said: "We won't be complicit in ExxonMobil making massive profits while people across the country are suffering a huge increase in energy costs. My bills have gone up massively today and so have everyone else's.
"We got here about 5am today and will stay until the police chuck us out."
A small number of police officers are monitoring the protest, along with a member of ExxonMobil's security staff. Two ExxonMobil vehicles are parked across the end of the road to "regulate" traffic.
Three fuel tankers are parked at Hardley Industrial Estate, which is on the opposite side of the A326.
Similar protests are being staged in other other parts of the country by Extinction Rebellio and an organisation called Just Stop Oil.
Campaigners are demanding an end to investment in oil, gas and coal.
The Esso Birmingham Fuel Terminal is among those being targeted by the protesters.
Other protests are said to be taking place at Navigator and Grays in Essex, Buncefield in Hemel Hempstead and Birmingham's Esso terminal.
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Police said they were responding to activists at a site in Tyburn, Birmingham.
West Midlands Police tweeted: 'We are working to deal with this as quickly as possible.'
The Just Stop Oil website says: "We must urgently end our reliance on fossil fuels to avoid irreversible changes in the earth's climate system."
The group says it wants action both in the short and long-term to reduce demand for fossil fuel energy - such as home insulation and renewable energy.
Demonstrations are likely to be staged across the country in the next few days in response to the cost-of-living crisis.
Extinction Rebellion UK and groups in the Just Stop Oil Coalition say they have blocked nine major oil facilities across the UK.
In a statement they said: "Extinction Rebellion is blocking the Esso West Terminal near Heathrow Airport, and the Hamble and Hythe terminals.
"People are locked on at the entrances using large pink oil barrels filled with concrete, with the words ‘END FOSSIL FUELS NOW’ on them.
"At the Esso terminal in London, four people have climbed on top of an oil silo. Scores of people sat in the road to block oil tankers from leaving each site, while others climbed on top of oil tankers.
"The action is taking place at a crucial time.
"The UK public is waking up this morning to a 54 per cent rise in the energy price cap, which the Citizens’ Advice charity says will leave millions of people unable to pay their bills.
"As war wages in Ukraine governments around the world are making plans to get off Russian oil and gas at speed.
"However, instead of doing what’s necessary to move away from fossil fuels to align with Paris Climate pledges, world leaders are choosing to appease oil companies and pursue extraction elsewhere.
"This is despite the recent IPCC report stating that staying on fossil fuels means half the population of the continent of Africa could be displaced within the next eight years.
"These are the people and nations who have done the absolute least to cause the crisis."
Clare Farrell, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, said energy companies were "shamelessly making record profits from the plight of the ordinary person".
"It's predicted that in just a matter of months one in four people in the UK will be unable to pay their energy bills."
An Extinction Rebellion Youth spokesperson added: "British workers and families should not bear the brunt of the energy crisis while oil and gas executives make insane profits.
“It should come as no surprise that young people are choosing to step up and take action like this.
"If people had been doing what we’re doing now 10 years ago maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation, but we are. We refuse to be bystanders.”
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