Three Just Stop Oil activists have been banned from protesting in London ahead of their trial for allegedly throwing soup at two Vincent Van Gogh paintings at the National Gallery.

Mary Somerville, 77, Stephen Simpson, 71, and Phillipa Green, 24, are each charged with two counts of damaging the frames of Sunflowers 1889 and Sunflowers 1888 by dousing the artwork with soup.

All three men appeared at Southwark Crown Court earlier and pleaded not guilty before being released on conditional bail.

The judge banned them from any protest action within the limits of the M25 until their trial, which is scheduled to begin in January 2026.

“A lot of vagueness”

Mr Simpson, from Shipley, West Yorkshire, and Ms Somerville, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, appeared at court in person, while Ms Green, from Penryn in Cornwall, appeared via video link.

Their lawyer, Raj Chada, said this ban constituted a “disproportionate” attack on their right to demonstrate, because London is “the seat of government”.

But Judge Alexander Milne said: “The application of the defendants’ right to protest is relative – and there appears to be considerable confusion between the exercise of this right and the commission of criminal offenses.

“This court does not prohibit them from lawfully protesting elsewhere in the UK, but I will prohibit them from participating in any demonstration within the M25.”

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