"We're doing this for you" - that's the message of a high-profile environmental activist to the people of Weymouth.

Emma Smart, from Weymouth, was speaking having been cleared of criminal damage after gluing herself to a government building in April.

The Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain protestor told the Echo she'd "do it again" and spoke about the increasingly abstract methods of protest being used.

Talking about her most recent court case, Emma said: "I'm relieved, frustrated at the waste of time and resources that are being used to criminalise protest but, actually, it's a small win in a very big battle."

"It shouldn't take scientists gluing themselves to government buildings to get the message out there."

More recently protests from across Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion have taken to increasingly controversial methods of protest - including throwing tomato soup over paintings and dousing Madam Tussauds waxworks in chocolate cake.

Emma said the message behind the protests remained the same - halting new fossil-fuel licenses and production - with the methods designed to draw as many eyes as possible.

She said: "People quite often tell us they agree with our message but not the method and I always say 'you tell us a better way'. I've worked in environmental conservation my whole life but it wasn't until I blocked a motorway that people started listening.

"We are not doing this to be liked but we are doing this for you. These actions are designed to be controversial, they are designed to spark conversation and get people questioning their priorities."

"The soup video had something like 50million views globally and everyone had an opinion. Some people thought 'why am I so incensed about a painting', which wasn't actually damaged, but not about the fact that young people face no future. We don't need everyone on that side but just a proportion to have that cut through."

One of the most common questions posed on social media in relation to the protests is "how did they get there?" - something Emma said was a 'lazy criticism'. She said she 'lived in the same world as everyone else' but that didn't render Extinction Rebellion's criticisms of policies incompatible.

She said: "While the government continues to bring in eco-cidal policies when it comes to energy, protests will continue to escalate - always non-violently - I will continue. Fines and (prison) sentences don't scare me: what scares me is the future of the planet in five, ten years time for as long as the government continues not to listen.

"We are acting for the people of Weymouth and Dorset: as a coastal community we are going to be one of the first people to be hit by environmental changes."