A FROME ex-councillor jailed for his role in a protest on the M25 has reflected on his career and his role in environmental activism.

Michael Dunk was one of two Green Party councillors elected to represent the Frome West division at the local elections in May 2022.

He was among Just Stop Oil activists who climbed gantries on the M25 in November 2022 to demand an end to new fossil fuel projects.

Following his release from prison and a failed appeal against his conviction, Mr Dunk was forced to step down mid-July triggering a by-election to be held in the coming weeks.

Ahead of his arrest on the M25, Mr Dunk had been actively protesting with Extinction Rebellion since 2018, having been “trying to find a release” for his concerns about climate change for a decade prior to this.

Disillusioned with what he felt was a lack of real action by the group he became involved with Just Stop Oil, as the then-Conservative government granted new oil and gas drilling licences in the North Sea.

He said: “Blocking the M25 is always going to raise some sort of attention, and I got to the stage where I knew I was going to get arrested, because I wasn’t going to just put a banner up there and then disappear, which I could have done.”

Mr Dunk and the other protesters climbed onto the M25 gantry at around 7am on November 8, 2022, tying a large ‘Just Stop Oil’ banner to the structure – with the police closing this section of the motorway to traffic shortly thereafter.

He was convicted as part of a group of six, one of three other pensioners.

It took until September 22, 2025 for his case to come to the crown court. During the trial, Judge Perrins “dismissed all the defences” put forward by Mr Dunk and his five co-defendants.

Mr Dunk reflected: “I had a feeling, at a certain point, that the fact that I was a councillor wasn’t really working in my favour.

“I think the judge regarded that as an extra aggravating factor, because as a councillor, I had a position to maintain, and he felt that I’d let the side down.”

Mr Dunk formally resigned from the council after the full council meeting in Bridgwater on July 15, after being informed that his appeal against his conviction had failed.

He added: “It’s a bit weird - it took me ages to decide to press ‘send’ on my resignation email.”

Mr Dunk says that he hopes whoever wins the upcoming by-election would help to put climate change at the forefront of the council’s agenda and expressed similar hope about Andy Burnham’s Labour government.

“I don’t think I want to repeat what I’ve done - who would? But I’m hoping that we won’t need to do that and Burnham will be the voice of reason,” he added.

The Frome West by-election to replace Mr Dunk will be held on Thursday, September 3, with polling stations open from 7am to 10pm.