Extinction Rebellion protests cost Met police £37m so far

Figure more than double that spent each year on trying to reduce violent crime in London

Protests by Extinction Rebellion have cost the Metropolitan police 37m so far this year but Britain's most senior officer has said she is against a ban on the climate emergency group's campaign of disruption.

Dame Cressida Dick said the fortnight-long autumn demonstrations, which ended last week, cost at least 21m, a figure expected to rise by several million. It comes on top of the 16m spent on policing the group's protests in April.