The founder of Extinction Rebellion – the climate change protest group who on Monday locked down parts of London – has admitted that she drives a diesel car.

       In a fractious interview on TalkRadio on Monday, Dr Gail Bradbrook said she drives a diesel car because she cannot afford an electric vehicle.

       The 49-year-old, who founded XR in 2018, told presenter Cristo Foufas that she needs to use the car to take her children to rugby and football matches because there are no available buses near her home on a Sunday.

       Diesel cars are considered much more harmful to the environment than electric cars, and the Government wants Britons to ditch them to help the UK reach “net zero” in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

       Dr Bradbrook's group brought roads in central London to a halt on Monday as hundreds of activists gathered in the capital at the start of two weeks of action aimed at persuading the Government to stop new investment in fossil fuels.

       She has previously been criticised for flying 11,000 miles to Costa Rica in 2016 for a holiday. She claimed on Monday that she flew to the island because of a health issue which could not be treated in the UK.

       Mr Foufas branded her a "hypocrite" and Dr Bradbrook responded by calling him a "boring interviewer" as the exchange became more tense.

       Dr Bradbrook, a molecular biologist, admitted in the interview that she had "done lots of good things but I also don't get it all right" before revealing she drove a car.

       When asked by Mr Foufas if it was electric, she said: "No, because I can't afford it. But if somebody wants to give me ￡5,000 you can convert my car to electric, and I don't have the money at the minute."

       Asked what car she drives, she admitted it was diesel but said: "It was claimed to be a really green car at the time when I bought it."

       She added: "I can't get my kids to sports fixtures, they are both into football and rugby, I do lots of liftsharing but I can't get them there because we don't have buses that run on a Sunday.

       "Some of the things are systemic issues aren't they? We all do what we can."

       Dr Bradbrook then accused Mr Foufas of "trying to make it personal".

       Mr Foufas replied: "How can you say it's not personal? You are asking me and politicians to change my life personally, so of course it is personal.

       "If you drive a diesel, if you take a holiday that takes up 11,000 air miles and then you are asking me or asking politicians to enforce rules that make me change my life, of course I am going to say you are a hypocrite."

       Earlier this month, the Government's climate change tsar admitted that he still drives a diesel car. Alok Sharma, the president of the Cop26 UN climate change conference said his next car would be electric.