Dutch police confirmed on Sunday that 768 people were arrested during Saturday’s climate protest and that all but two had been released, pending verification of their identity.

In total, 12 of the demonstrators, including the two still in custody, were picked up for ‘making preparations’ for the protest. One person was arrested because they had been banned from the area and the rest for refusing to follow police instructions to leave the road, news website Nu.nl reported.

The demonstrators had blocked the A12 highway in both ways in protest at government subsidies for fossil fuels such as oil and gas for several hours in the afternoon.

The road was cleared around 4pm when the last activists, who had climbed up a pole, were removed by police.

Some of the demonstrators had glued themselves to the road or chained themselves together in an effort to slow down their removal. Police used chain cutters to separate the activists and, reportedly, cola to dissolve the glue.