Environmental activists spent their second night in the Euston tunnel, but eviction officials said the tunnel is near gas and water pipes and that the activists are risking their own lives.
The tunnelers described how they built one of the largest tunnel networks occupied by protesters in one of the busiest parts of London without being detected.
The network has two main tunnels running in different directions from the downward axis, and is apparently 30 meters long.
The tunnels were built over several months after the construction of a camp of environmental activists in Euston Square Gardens last August. They joined a community of homeless people in the street who were already camping there.
Euston Station is one of the busiest in London, serving trains, buses and the Tube. It’s on Euston Road, a main road through central London.
The Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police, Network Rail, the Camden Council and Transport for London all denied that it was their responsibility to monitor the site for tunnel diggers. HS2 said it took possession of the site on Wednesday.
Map
One of the activists, Ben Hartley, told the Guardian how the covert operation was carried out in clear sight. “It’s hardly a new idea for protesters to dig tunnels,” he said. “I’m pretty sure the different organizations had an idea that something was going on.”
He said the tunnel network, which he described as an “extensive protest labyrinth”, was considered one of the largest of its kind.
Hartley said the most dangerous time for activists was in a tunnel when sheriffs began their excavation. He believes that at least two members of the Supreme Court Enforcement, the group that commits the eviction, are highly trained in dealing with this type of action.
He said of the digging: “It’s a bit like The Great Escape.” He said the main structure in which the activists lived in the camp in the months before this week’s eviction was a long, multi-room living room with a lockable front door. “If someone showed up who we did not like the look, we just locked the front door,” he said.
When the digging began under this living space, the activists piled up the earth they had removed on the floor of their house. “By the end, we were squatting as we went from room to room,” Hartley said. ‘In some places the earth was 3 feet high. We cut the wood to get inside the tunnel so it could not be seen. ‘
He said part of the purpose of the protest was to raise awareness of the loss of a precious park in the middle of a very built-up part of the capital. “It’s really a shame that this park is being lost to build a temporary taxi rank,” he said. “We are intelligent and hardworking people and we want to make them aware of the fact that it is part of the fight for the future of our species.”
Howard Rees, a spokesman for Euston Square Gardens’ tree conservationists, said a civic meeting was urgently needed to address the climate crisis. “We need sensible British people to take the reins and guide us through this.”
The activists in the tunnel released footage of ominous exchanges with the eviction staff, accusing them of depriving them of their drilling and stamping work at all times. Larch Maxey, one of the occupiers, said it was a form of torture for the residents of the tunnel.
Supreme Court enforcement said: “The national eviction team is legally removing activists from Euston Gardens. In their efforts to delay their removal, illegal occupiers occupied a rough-hewn tunnel on the land.
‘Through our risk assessment and their statements in various media today, we are aware that they have previously experienced a collapse and the water has penetrated into their tunnel. The illegal activists appear to be putting themselves at risk of a further tunnel collapse, and possibly intercepting gas and water pipes in the area, leading to suffocation, flooding and drowning.
‘To reduce the hazards, we use specialist air control compressors to circulate the air, and equipment to monitor the air conditions. The activists made no provision for this. We have engineers available on site to evaluate whether the tunnel runs near gas, water or other pipes and cables. ”