JUST Stop Oil's Formula One 'track invasion' was 'as safe as possible', a jury has been told.

Louis McKechnie, who is on trial alongside five other protesters, denies one charge of causing a public nuisance, and said the group had planned to “bait out” a red flag and then enter a section of track with clear sightlines.

McKechnie, 22 and from Weymouth, admits sitting on the Wellington Straight during last year's British Grand Prix on July 3 but told Northampton Crown Court he felt completely safe before being dragged away by a marshal, and that the protest had not been dangerous.

Giving evidence as part of an ongoing trial, the former Bournemouth University student told jurors that the protest followed in the vein of the Suffragettes and Gandhi.

He said: “I saw the politicians ignoring the scientists, which felt like a recipe for disaster.

“I felt Just Stop Oil addresses a key issue which needs to be solved immediately.

“Historically this (direct action) is what works. It worked for the suffragettes, it worked for Gandhi… we are using their tactics because nothing else works.”

Asked about the allegation that he had created a risk of serious harm, McKechnie said: “I think it’s completely false.

“Those drivers are the best drivers in the world. They would not even have flinched at something like this.”

During cross-examination, McKechnie was asked if he conceded the possibility that his actions had been dangerous.

The defendant replied: “No. I concede that it might have looked dangerous to someone who doesn’t know about this stuff in great detail.”

Jurors have previously been shown on-board footage from Formula One drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon as they passed three men and two women who were sitting down on the track.

McKechnie is appearing on trial alongside David Baldwin, 47, Emily Brocklebank, 24, Alasdair Gibson, 22, Bethany Mogie, 40, and Joshua Smith, 29.

All but one of the six defendants – David Baldwin – admits entering the racetrack last July.

Baldwin, of Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, was found in a car park along with glue, cable ties and a Just Stop Oil banner and is said by the Crown to have been “in it together” with his co-defendants.

McKechnie; Baldwin; Brocklebank, of Yeadon, Leeds; Gibson, from Aberdeen; Mogie, from St Albans; and Smith, from Lees in Oldham, all deny the charges.

The trial continues.