Eco-activists descended on Highgrove Gardens earlier today to protest over inaction on climate change.

Members of Extinction Rebellion blocked the entrance to the royal gardens near Tetbury, urging Prince Charles to support action to save the planet.

The group were refusing to move until an open letter to the heir to the thrown was formally received by his staff, the prince was informed and had given a response.

One activist said during the incident: “I don’t want to be here, but the situation on this planet is way too dire now”.

Three police cars and one police van attended the protest to try and bring a peaceful resolution, but were unable to negotiate a solution with protesters.

With workers and visitors to the gardens unable to gain entrance, large queues started to form on the busy A433, with traffic at a standstill for over 20 minutes.

A large number of visitors missed out on a visit to the gardens, some of whom was their first visit.

One man, who waited for almost an hour by the side of the road, said that he had come today for the first time with his wife and had been waiting for a really long time to get tickets.

He was hoping that protesters would move so he could look around the gardens.

Two woman were also waiting in their car patiently hoping to visit the gardens.

Eventually both were asked to move on by police to allow traffic to flow in both directions.

The protest, which started at 10am, lasted over two hours and caused long delays for motorists travelling between Tetbury and Westonbirt.

Extinction Rebellion apologised for disrupting visitors’ plans for a day out at Highgrove, but were sure supporters of Prince Charles would understand.

David Lambert for the group said: "The Prince has been warning us of this nightmare for over forty years: he was right but he was ignored.

"We are asking him to rebel against the conventions of royal protocol and speak out with the urgency he knows is needed.

"As he said, the time for business as usual is over: this is a national emergency and we need his leadership now."

A police spokesperson said: "We earlier attended Highgrove to help facilitate a peaceful and lawful protest.

"The protest has since ended without incident."