London’s Metropolitan Police have come under heavy criticism after footage emerged showing officers essentially twiddling their thumbs while climate change protesters blocked a road, only to quickly and forcefully jump into action to detain a working man after he tried to clear the road.

On Monday morning, radicals from the Just Stop Oil green activist collective blocked off the road leading to the Blackfriars Bridge in central London. Rather than acting to prohibit such actions, London police seemed content on allowing the disruption to go forward, standing with their backs to the protesters.

Officers only apparently notice something is happening after a protester, shoved from the road by a young man dressed in the typical attire of a construction worker, lands by their feet. Police quickly swooped in and forcefully detained the individual.

Footage of the incident quickly went viral, with many questioning the apparent two-tiered policing carried out by the officers.

Brexit’s Nigel Farage said: “Way over the top from the police. This man is trying to earn a living! Get these idiot protestors off the streets.”

“Can we start a crowdfunder for the young lad trying to get to work that was arrested for disrupting the police protected Just Spoilt Brats extremists?” GB News commentator Darren Grimes posted.

“Last I checked the police are supposed to be there to ensure law abiding citizens are protected from the actions of extremists.”

Reclaim Party leader Laurence Fox took aim at the Just Stop Oil protesters who obstructed the highway, writing: “The world isn’t burning. There is no climate emergency. Stop ruining everyone’s lives with your endless and always unfulfilled predictions of climate collapse. We should have left the Doomsday cultists back in the Middle Ages.”

Former Brexit Party MEP Martin Daubney shared separate footage appearing to show German police quickly removing similar climate change protesters from the road.

“Compare how German cops deal with climate protestors blocking roads with the soft-soap treatment of the Met,” Daubney wrote.”If only we had boys in blue like this!”

Kristian Niemietz, the head of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) think tank, noted that “the [German] response is from the state of Berlin, which, until a few days ago, was governed by a red-red-green coalition (Social Democrats + Socialists + Greens). The [British] response is under a Tory government with a >60 seats majority.”

Police failing to properly enforce the law against left-wing protesters has been a common feature seen in London, despite the government granting police sweeping new powers to deal with extreme actions, which specifically included the obstruction of roads.

However, the blocking of roads by protesters has long been illegal under British law, with the Highways Act of 1980 stating: “If a person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway he is guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks or a fine, or both.”

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “At around 08.25hrs, officers detained a male member of the public for common assault after an altercation between him and two Just Stop Oil protesters on Blackfriars Bridge this morning.

“There have been no arrests. Police are investigating the matter.”

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka