Britain’s milk deliveries could be under threat from a group of vegan campaigners who are threatening to disrupt supplies.
Up to 500 activists could take part in plans to block dairy depots over two weeks while demanding a switch to plant-based alternatives.
Protest group Animal Rebellion – an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion – has vowed to carry out the protest in an effort to promote its vegan agenda.
The group warned: ‘People are prepared to do whatever it non-violently takes — and that includes prison.’
Yesterday, a director one of the country’s biggest milk suppliers warned there could be shortages if the campaign group stages its protest, The Sun reports.
Ash Amirahmadi of Arla Foods UK said: ‘Anything that adds to the cost of business will end up adding to costs for customers.
The group poured the milk out the cartons one-by-one in Harrods, and a woman (pictured) could be heard saying, ‘why are you doing this? It’s disgusting’
The activists targeted one of the most iconic department stores in the world by carrying out their protest in Harrods in Knightsbridge
‘We are working with police and government to make sure it keeps being supplied.’
The average price of a pint of milk has jumped to 59p amid the cost of living crisis.
Conservative MP Alicia Kearns said: ‘These vegan militia should face the full force of the law.’
Last month, activists from Animal Rebelllion poured out milk over the floor of Harrods department store in Knightsbridge and were forcibly removed by security.
Vegans on social media later condemned the group’s actions, saying they ‘made us look like fools’ and it was ‘detrimental rather than helpful’.
One account started the conversation saying: ‘Am I the only vegan who was seriously disturbed rather than impressed by the Harrods milk protest?
‘Surely there are other ways than direct wastage of an animal product, I feel like it just makes us look like hypocrites.
‘Maybe I am missing something here but the whole thing made me feel ill and I feel that is detrimental rather than helpful to our cause.’
Other accounts were quick to voice their agreement, with one saying they ‘didn’t get it’ and it made ‘vegans look like fools’.
Another account said: ‘The mere idea of that protest angers me.
‘It’s hypocritical at best.’
Members of Animal Rebellion poured milk in the food hall. Pictured is the store’s roastery, which received a makeover in 2018
Twitter users were also quick to point out that the protestors – who also staged sit ins at other supermarkets and cleared shelves of milk and dairy products – were only making ‘a mess for the cleaners to clean up’ and making it ‘dangerous for disabled customers’.
One twitter user said: ‘You didn’t hurt the dairy industry here, you gave them a large new order.
‘You hurt the workers at the store (who may be punished for the cost of the new order), you hurt poor and food insecure customers, you made it dangerous for disabled customers.
‘What is wrong with you?’
Another said: ‘Why do you clowns always make trouble for the working classes, never you’re own?
Other vegans on reddit said the protest was ’embarrassing’ with some saying it made them feel ‘physically ill’
‘You’ve just made an awful mess that the cleaners will take ages to clean for some ridiculous message no one cares about but a tiny handful of people, mostly toffs like you.’
American actor Travis Wester was also involved in the online backlash, telling Animal Rebellion, ‘the next time you want to virtue signal with perfectly good food, I suggest you use it to feed the hungry’.
In the video of the protest which took place on July 27, the group are seen walking up to the milk section of the Food Hall in Harrods before pouring the milk out of the cartons onto the floor one-by-one.
Members of the group resist security removing them, with a number of people needed to physically remove the activists from the store.
A woman in the background can be heard saying, ‘why are you doing this? It’s disgusting’.
Animal Rebellion also occupied ‘ The Cheese Room’ at a Waitrose store and other dairy aisles in London and Bristol.
Twitter users heavily criticised with the protestors actions, saying that it is down to ‘low-wage workers’ to clean up
Beau King Houston, one of the protestors at Harrods, said: ‘We took this action in Harrods to show that we won’t stand by as unsustainable, destructive industries wreak havoc on lives across the globe.
‘Harrods is a symbol of the broken system we are living in.
‘A system that ignores the needs and prosperity of everyone, in favour of politicians and their friends in business, but they could also be part of the transition to a better future.’