A CLIMATE change activist who embarked on a hunger strike outside a council building has said the planet is facing “a race against time” to prevent catastrophe.

Steve Kelly, who is a member of the Green Party, fasted for a total of 42 hours from Monday to Wednesday outside the Town Hall in Station Road and at home.

The drastic action taken by Mr Kelly was part of a global initiative designed to get governments and leading political figures to take notice of the climate crisis.

During his food-less protest outside the Tendring Council building, Mr Kelly raised his concerns with incoming and outgoing councillors, who he feels aren’t doing enough.

He managed to refrain from eating until the early hours of Wednesday morning and has since been slowly reintroducing himself to food.

Mr Kelly said: “I am not a martyr, but it felt the right thing to do and I felt so frustrated with the channels which I had used until now to get the message across.

“There has been concerns over Extinction Rebellion disrupting peoples’ lives, so this was an opportunity to bring discomfort to myself.

“I have done stuff like this before for charity, which I found relatively easy, but this became more difficult.

“I started feeling the cold and my belly was telling me something was wrong, so I reluctantly surrendered.

“I am recovering now and am slowly starting to feel a little more human.”

The conversation surrounding global warming and the damage being done to the world’s eco-systems is as prevalent as ever and progress is being made.

But Mr Kelly, who believes protestors like himself are taking more extreme action in order to be heard, says there is still a long way to go.

Mr Kelly said: “We have made some headway and science is on our side, so I am confident more people will catch on.

“But this is a race against time and people are losing their lives, so we need change and we all have a job to do, whether that is practically or making more people aware.

“I have given up my car, but I am not asking people to do that - simply things can help the climate crisis.

“This is a global issue and if we aren’t seeing floods somewhere, we are having droughts somewhere else.

“This is the most important issue humanity has faced.”