Police arrest Eleanor Elizabeth "Ellie” Chowns, Green Party Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands while clearing an Extinction Rebellion environmental activists campsite at Trafalgar square on October 14, 2019 in London, England.

British police have ordered Extinction Rebellion activists to stop their demonstrations immediately or face arrest, issuing a London-wide ban on the group's climate change protests.

In a statement issued on Monday evening, the Metropolitan Police said that anyone who ignores the ban would be detained and face prosecution.

"Any assembly linked to the Extinction Rebellion 'Autumn Uprising'… must now cease their protest(s) within London," the police said, marking 21:00 London time on Monday evening as the cut-off for protesters to stop what it called "ongoing serious disruption to the community."

Activists based in Trafalgar Square, which until Monday had been specified by the Metropolitan Police as the only legitimate protest site in the city, were ordered to remove their tents and clear the area almost without warning.

Extinction Rebellion's London branch described the move as an "outrage," before calling on the police to "respect the law."

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The decision comes after more than a week of civil disobedience in London, with activists targeting government buildings and major financial institutions.

The protests, which began last Monday and were due to last two weeks, have resulted in more than 1,400 arrests.

Extinction Rebellion says it has held the so-called "Autumn Uprising" across major cities across the globe to rebel against the world's governments for their "criminal inaction" when it comes to the intensifying climate crisis.

The group uses non-violent civil disobedience in an attempt to highlight the risks posed by climate change and the accelerating loss of plant and animal species.