A SOUTH Wales woman who sat in the middle of a road in an act of peaceful civil disobedience says she wants the UK Government to take climate and ecological issues seriously.

Lynda Duffill, a 53 year-old mental health trainer and volunteer manager, held up traffic by sitting in the middle of the road in Haverfordwest on 1 May, before being forcibly removed.

South Wales Argus: Protestor Lynda Dufill faces the oncoming traffic.

Protestor Lynda Dufill faces the oncoming traffic

South Wales Argus: Lynda Duffill is removed from the road.

Lynda Duffill is removed from the road

She was joining over 200 hundred people who sat alone in roads in the UK as part of the ‘Rebellion of One’ protests, organised by the Extinction Rebellion campaign group.

The ‘sitters’ wore signs with a message about their fears for the future of the world, if climate and ecological crises continue to go unaddressed.

The individual disruptive actions took place in towns and cities across the UK – including Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

It marked exactly two years to the day since the UK Parliament had declared an environment and climate emergency.

“I have been an environmental activist all my adult life, I’ve lobbied politicians, filled out petitions and changed my personal life to decrease my carbon footprint," said Lynda.

"Twenty-five years ago I undertook a degree in International Relations and wrote my dissertation on why the destruction of the environment should be treated as a security issue.

"Twenty years later in 2016, Maj Gen Munir Muniruzzaman, then chairman of the Global Military Advisory Council on Climate Change, said that climate change is the greatest security threat of the 21st century.

“So, why was I sitting in the road? I fear for the next generation’s future.

"I work with young people and have two young adult children myself. They deserve a life free from the difficulties that climate breakdown could bring.

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“In January this year, the biggest ever poll on climate change found that 81 per cent of people in the UK believe that we’re in a global emergency.

"People have said they want action and should be included as part of the solution.

"A national Citizen’s Assembly would give the Government a mandate to act on the will of the people.”

Lynda's sit-in on the entrance to the bridge at Picton Place at 11am on Saturday, May 1, blocked traffic for 120 minutes before the police arrived.

She was moved off the road by local police and questioned, but was not arrested.

Lynda also wrote a letter to Preseli MP Stephen Crabb, asking for action, following the UK Government's declaration of a Climate Emergency back in May 2019.