Olympic gold medallist Etienne Stott was one of the activists arrested on Waterloo Bridge as police cleared the final section of carriageway on Sunday evening.

The London 2012 canoe slalom champion and MBE was carried from the bridge by four officers at around 8.30pm as he shouted of the "ecological crisis".

On Twitter at around 10.50pm, the Nottingham branch of XR confirmed his arrest and said they were awaiting his release.

Stott, who retired from sport in 2016 after competing internationally for 14 years, has been active on social media on the issue of climate change.

The Olympian was arrested on Waterloo Bridge (
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He's been taking part in the Extinction Rebellion protests (
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Before the arrest on Sunday a Twitter profile for the Nottingham XR branch described Stott as 'our celebrity activist', and praised his efforts for getting involved in the issue.

Earlier this week, the Olympian tweeted about the David Attenborough programme on climate change, saying people 'must act now'.

"This could be one of the most important TV programmes in the entire history of mankind," he wrote.

Stott has also tweeted praise for Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teen who has hit the headlines and become a young figure head for the climate change movement.

Olympic gold medallist Etienne Stott and Chris Packham make a speech on top of a bus stop during the Extinction Rebellion demo (
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Stott pictured in London on Saturday (
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Stott is one of 963 people arrested by the Met Police over the climate change protests as of Sunday evening.

By Sunday evening, the roads around Parliament Square were cleared, and traffic on Waterloo Bridge was able to move northbound.

Over the past week protesters have stopped traffic in Oxford Circus, Marble Arch, Parliament Square and Waterloo Bridge.

It comes after protesters proposed to "pause" their actions if politicians agree to negotiate.

Members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) are suggesting temporarily ending disruptive tactics to focus on political negotiations as they enter a second week of campaigning to have the Government declare a climate emergency.

A spokesman said there would be no escalation of activity on Bank Holiday Monday, but warned that the disruption could get "much worse" if politicians were not open to their negotiation requests.