Two men have been remanded into custody after appearing in court accused of scaling a bridge in a Just Stop Oil protest that closed the Dartford Crossing for two days.

Morgan Trowland, 39, and Marcus Decker, 33, will face a jury trial after both indicating not guilty pleas at Southend Magistrates’ Court to committing public nuisance over the alleged stunt.

Drivers were unable to use the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex, after it was blocked when two demonstrators mounted its cables with climbing equipment, the court heard.

Prosecutor Ruth Becker said the pair began just before 4am on Monday and eventually climbed so high that police negotiators urging them to descend were no longer able to communicate with them.

The pair are then said to have unfurled a Just Stop Oil banner and remained there for almost 36 hours, ending the alleged protest at 5.38pm on Tuesday.

The situation put both both protesters and emergency service workers responding to it in danger, she said.

Civil engineer Trowland, of Islington, north London, and musician Decker, of no fixed address, appeared in the dock, speaking to confirm their details and indicate not guilty pleas to the offence.

Shouts from the public gallery of “shame on you” were heard after District Judge Christopher Williams denied both of them bail.

They were remanded into custody until a plea and trial preparation hearing at Basildon Crown Court on November 17.

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