A plot to interfere with the London Stock Exchange led to the arrest of six activists from the Palestine Action group.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that the suspects planned to block the entrance to the building on Monday morning, preventing workers from entering.

Police arrested a 31-year-old man in Liverpool for allegedly conspiring to cause criminal damage.

Later on Sunday, five more people, who were thought to be involved in the same plot, were also arrested for the same crime.

A 29-year-old woman was arrested in Brent, and a 23-year-old man was arrested in Tower Hamlets, London.

Two women, aged 28 and 26, were arrested in Liverpool. A 27-year-old man was arrested in Brighton.

Detective Superintendent Sian Thomas said: ‘These are important arrests.

‘We think this group was prepared to do a destructive and harmful stunt which could have had severe consequences if it had been done successfully.

The police started the investigation after the Daily Express gave them information on Friday.

DS Thomas said: ‘I appreciate the Express for their readiness to share the information from their own investigation. It was crucial in helping us stop them successfully.

‘We had little time to act since we only got the material on Friday afternoon.

‘It is because of the hard work of our Public Order Crime team and our Merseyside colleagues that we were able to find, track and arrest those we think were part of this plot.

‘Aware of the idea that this was one of a planned week of action, we are talking to the City of London Police and other forces in the UK to make sure that we have enough resources to handle any trouble in the next days.’