OFFICERS from North Yorkshire Police have been sent down to London to assist in policing the Extinction Rebellion protests - but the force has declined to say how many 'for operational reasons.'

A force spokesman said that as part of national mutual aid arrangements, many forces, including North Yorkshire Police, were providing officers and resources to assist with the policing of protests in the capital.

“When a request for mutual aid is made, we assess what support can be provided, ensuring ‎our local needs are not adversely affected," he said.

“Similarly, the benefit of mutual aid is that if there is an occasion when we require additional support, we can make a mutual aid request in order to ensure we can effectively deal with the matter, while continuing to deliver our high quality, day-to-day policing service to the people of North Yorkshire."

He added: "For operational reasons, we are not able to reveal the number of North Yorkshire Police officers involved."

The Metropolitan Police has said that 541 arrests were made over two days of protests earlier this week and has told Extinction Rebellion activists to go to Trafalgar Square or risk arrest.