VIDEO: Scarborough students walk out of schools to join international strike against climate change

Students join an international protest to call for urgent action to tackle global warming.

Pupils from various local schools, including St Augustine's and Graham School, have been protesting in the town centre to make their voices heard and raise awareness of the devastating effects of global warming.

The protest, called Youth Strike 4 Climate, is taking place across more than 60 cities in the UK. In Scarborough, the strike has been coordinated by Murray Robinson, 15, and his brother Noah, 14, who spent the past few days encouraging fellow students to take part.

Students plan to go on strike

They said: "It's our generation that is going to have to deal with everything that's happening so we just want to do something about it. Climate change is happening now, we can't stop it but we can delay it.

"The government keep saying it's on their list of important things but how high is it on their list? As far as we're aware nothing's being done. The council here have been great and declared a climate emergency and we're doing our part but as a power in England we don't see much."

Earlier this week, Scarborough MP Robert Goodwill criticised the students' decision saying they shouldn't take this as an excuse to skip school.

The kids' decision was firmly backed by their mother Claire Robinson who was also present at the strike.

"We're quite knowledgeable as a family, we do an awful lot at home to limit our plastic use and all the rest of it so they were always going to do it" she said.

"They're very awake young men who are very anxious about climate change and when they read about it in the paper they always worry about what's going to happen. We need to turn that anxiety into action and actually do something about it."

In response to MP's remarks that strike action would damage the children's education, Mrs Robinson said: "Activism is a form of education. Murrey who's nearly 16 is going to be doing his GCSEs in a few months. I don't see the point in him learning about the works of Shakespeare without having the knowledge and resilience to deal with climate change and the rise in sea levels that are going to affect us right here in town."