HUNDREDS of Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists on bikes blocked roads to Heathrow yesterday in protest against plans to expand the world’s second-busiest airport. 

After cycling through London, the activists got off their bikes on Bath Road, near Heathrow, to lie in front of a makeshift bulldozer. 

They urged PM Boris Johnson to join them and fulfil his famous pledge as London mayor to block the bulldozers to prevent the construction of a third runway. 

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell, a vocal critic of the expansion plans, was also called to join the action. 

The lie-in was part of XR’s “12 Days of Crisis” — a series of protests aimed at pressuring politicians to put the climate emergency at the heart of the election. 

The extent of the disruption caused by the construction of a third runway was revealed by the government earlier this year. 

Detailed plans showed that expanding Heathrow would require rerouting rivers, lowering the M25 into underground tunnels and building car parks for 50,000 vehicles. 

The plans also include 700 extra flights a day, causing more disruption to a built-up area already suffering from congestion and illegal levels of air pollution. 

Local anti-runway campaigner Christine Taylor said: “Residents in villages to the north of Heathrow have repeatedly faced the destruction of their communities by a proposed third runway. 

“Now, with communities around the world suffering the effects of climate change, it’s time to scrap the runway and cancel the bulldozers once and for all.” 

British aviation currently equates to 6 per cent of the country’s total emissions, a figure which is forecast to make up 25 per cent of emissions by 2050 at the current growth rate.