Police Scotland has agreed to send up to 100 officers to London to help police protests by environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion.

The officers will be deployed from early next week to help London cops with the ongoing campaign from climate change activists.

As of 9.30am on Saturday, Metropolitan Police confirmed there have been 1290 arrests in connection with the ongoing protests.

Chief constable Iain Livingstone approved the request from the National Police Coordination Centre on behalf of the Met Police earlier today.

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He has assured both the Scottish Police Authority chair Susan Deacon and Cabinet Secretary for Justice Humza Yousaf that the deployment will not undermine Police Scotland's ability to protect Scottish people.

Mr Livingstone said: "I have agreed to send a number of officers for a short time to assist with the policing of the Extinction Rebellion protests currently taking place in the city.

"The Scottish Police Federation is engaged in this process and the safety and welfare of my officers and colleagues is paramount.

"Scotland has benefited from mutual aid in the past and will do so again in the future. It's therefore appropriate that, as the UK's second-biggest police service, we supply officers when asked to do so by other forces.”