Greta Thunberg detained by police at London protest disrupting oil summit

Greta Thunberg has been detained by police at a climate protest outside a central London hotel.

Images showed the 20-year-old Swedish environmental activist being led away by officers, before being moved into the back of a marked van.

She had been at a demonstration outside a major annual meeting of industry leaders from Shell, Total, Equinor, Saudi Aramco and other oil giants.

Organised by the group Fossil Free London, protesters tried to block access to the three-day Energy Intelligence Forum at the InterContinental Hotel on Park Lane, which got under way on Tuesday.

Speakers at the conference include the chief executives of Saudi Arabia's Aramco and Norway's Equinor, the German ambassador to the UK and Graham Stuart, UK energy security and net zero minister.

Mr Stuart has previously said allowing oil and gas companies to continue drilling the North Sea for resources is necessary for energy security.

But Ms Thunberg told reporters: "The world is drowning in fossil fuels. Our hopes and dreams and lives are being washed away by a flood of greenwashing and lies.

"It has been clear for decades that the fossil fuel industries were well aware of the consequences of their business models, and yet, they have done nothing.

"The opposite - they have actively delayed, distracted and denied the causes of the climate crisis and spread doubts about their own engagement in it."

It is not the first time Ms Thunberg has been taken away by police at a demonstration.

In July, she was forcibly removed from a protest in southern Sweden hours after a local court fined her for disobeying police during a similar demo a month earlier.

The campaigner was issued the fine by Malmo District Court after she admitted she had disobeyed the police order but pleaded not guilty and said she was acting out of necessity.

In London, protesters gathered with banners and shouted "oily money out" and "cancel the conference", while others lit yellow and pink smoke flares.

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A white fence surrounded the hotel entrance, keeping protesters out while police smuggled conference attendees through the crowd of chanting activists and a samba band.

Ms Thunberg added: "We cannot let this continue. The elite of the oil and money conference, they have no intention of transition.

"Their plan is to continue this destructive search of profits. That is why we have to take direct action to stop this and to kick oil money out of politics.

"We have no other option but to put our bodies outside this conference and to physically disrupt. And we have to do that every time. We have to continue showing them that they are not going to get away with this."

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The Metropolitan Police said six people were arrested for "obstruction of the highway".

It added: "Officers asked the protesters to move from the road on to the pavement, which would enable them to continue with their demonstration without breaching the conditions.

"A number of protesters failed to do so and we have now made a further 14 arrests for section 14 of the public order act and a further one for criminal damage."

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Last month, the controversial Rosebank offshore development was approved by regulators despite warnings about the climate damage of new fossil fuel projects.

Located 80 miles west of Shetland, it is the UK's largest untapped oil and gas field.

The UK government says more oil will add to energy security, though the majority is expected to be sold to Europe and then reimported as refined products.

Lauren McDonald, a campaigner against Rosebank, said: "The only reason that they continue to pursue this is for profit. There is no justification for this."