More than 100 Totnes residents have travelled to Bristol to take part in a protest organised by the climate action group Extinction Rebellion (XR).

They joined thousands of others on Monday to disrupt key transport routes and occupy public spaces in the centre of the city as part of a non-violent, co-ordinated uprising across England, Scotland and Wales.

The action, which is planned to cause disruption for at least five days, calls on the UK Government to act now to halt biodiversity loss and cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.

Totnes resident Syliva Dell said: “I am very concerned about the lack of urgency shown by our Government.

“It frightens me how little the prospective prime ministers have said about tackling the climate and ecological emergency.

“There’s far too little recognition that my children are facing an existential crisis within their lifetimes.

“So I am going to Bristol with thousands more non-violent citizens.”

In April, XR drove the climate crisis to the top of the news agenda by occupying five sites in central London for over a week.

Their message was simple: this is an emergency.

More than 1,100 activists were arrested including more than 30 Totnes residents.

Sylvia said: “Since April those who, like me, have joined Extinction Rebellion have not been twiddling our thumbs, we have continued to mobilise and more members join us every day.

“Citizens are waking up to the danger we face and together we will make the Government listen and act with the urgency this crisis demands.”

The Bristol occupation has been supported by local XR groups and concerned citizens across the South West.

It is one part of a national XR protest called the ‘Summer Uprising’ taking place in five UK cities simultaneously – Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds and London.

Each city is focusing on a different aspect of the climate and ecological crisis.

The focus of the Bristol action is rising sea levels, which will threaten coastal properties and destroy sensitive ecosystems such as Slapton Ley, across Devon and the South West.

Totnes protestor Louise Overy said: “Forty years ago there were over 250 pairs of curlew on Dartmoor.

“Now there are fewer than 10, and they are in danger of extinction.

“Something special about Devon is on the verge of vanishing forever.

“We need action now, not at some vague point in the future. The Government needs to know we are not going away until positive change is made.”

Local environmentalist David Ramsden MBE, head of conservation at the Ashburton-based Barn Owl Trust, said: “When did you last hear a nightingale or see a turtle dove?

“Governments have been failing to protect wildlife for donkey’s years, not only in South Devon but around the world.

“A million species now face extinction.

“In Totnes, across the UK and in other countries people are rising up at last.

“Extinction Rebellion say the future of mankind is in danger and they are absolutely right.

“If we carry on like this we won’t survive.”

Alongside the disruptive actions, XR is using the occupation to hold lawful “solution zones” with talks and workshops.

Tuesday kicked off with Bristol’s XR youth camping on College Green, a talk from singer songwriter activist, Billy Bragg, who shared rousing words with the rebels from the pink boat – named after the murdered environmental activist, Jeanette Kawas, on Bristol Bridge.

The activists disrupted traffic on some of the busiest roads in Bristol.