Stonehenge Druid says Just Stop Oil protest 'alienated' supporters
Protesters sprayed the ancient stones orange last month
A druid leader from Salisbury has told us the actions of Just Stop Oil protesters at Stonehenge has alienated potential supporters of the group.
The stones were sprayed with orange cornflour on 19th June by protesters from the campaign group, as they call for the Government to sign a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.
Three people arrested in connection with the incident have been released on bail.
The incident happened two days before Summer Solstice, which went ahead despite the protest.
King Arthur Pendragon, a senior druid at Stonehenge, said he is firmly against the groups actions.
He said: "I was totally opposed to to the action totally opposed to what they've been doing, totally opposed to the way they do it."
Mr Pendragon, who stood as an independent candidate to be Salisbury's MP in the General Election, says the protest has turned those who may have been logical supporters of the group against them.
"I found very strange," he said, adding: "they alienated all the Druids and all the pagans and all the pilgrims who came in the next day to the solstice, and we were the sort of people who would be the natural demographic that would have supported them."
Mr Pendragon, who says he is 'known as a protester', continued: "I'm known as an environmentalist, but they certainly alienated me and if they've alienated me, they've alienated a lot of others."