HUNDREDS of youngsters skipped school and campaigned for action on the climate for the fourth time in three months today.

Pupils and students of all ages assembled outside Churchill Square shopping centre in Brighton at 11am to wave signs and shout slogans.

After the protesters sat down and listened to a fiery speech from Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, they marched down West Street towards the seafront.

From there they proceeded down Kings Road, blocking traffic before finishing on the beach.

Protester Ellie Curran said the group demonstrated outside Churchill Square shops H&M and Zara because it wanted to draw attention to the pollution caused by the fashion industry.

The 21 year-old said: “Fast fashion is destroying the planet. It uses so much water and materials.

“It’s always better to go to a charity shop and buy used clothes.”

Speaking about the impact of youth strikes across the world, Ms Curran said the movement has already effected change in government and the media.

She added: “The Guardian is now changing their wording, they’re calling it a climate crisis, not climate change.

“Parliament passed the climate emergency so now we’re seeing that. We’re changing attitudes about the environment.

"We need a complete change of system to beat this crisis.”

Turnout was impressive and a roar greeted MP Ms Lucas, who blasted the Government for its lack of funding for green energy.

The Green firebrand said: “This Government scrapped the Green Investment Bank and refuse to fund onshore wind farms, which is the cheapest clean form of energy we have.

“We don’t lack the technology, we don’t lack the finance, we don’t lack the knowledge. We know what we need to do.

“The only thing we’re lacking is the political will and that’s why we need you to keep putting pressure on the Government to do this.

"Declaring an emergency isn’t enough. We need action now."

Ms Lucas also took aim at the fashion industry, claiming clothing companies produced more pollution than shipping and aviation combined.

She later tweeted the youngsters' "moral authority" could only be answered by "urgent climate action".

Peter Kyle, Labour MP for Hove, was also spotted at the protest.

Student Lana Griggs, 17, said she wanted the Government would take more notice of young people and hoped for more strikes to come.

She said: “We are putting pressure on the Government to take action.

“I hope they take notice of us, they already are, but they need to do a lot more. We want to keep the momentum going.”

Though the strike garnered plenty of support from adults and parents, not everyone was impressed.

One sceptical onlooker said: “What are they doing here? They’ve got too much time on their hands, they should be in school.”

But some schools were supportive of the strike action.

Lewes Old Grammar School headmaster Robert Blewitt said protesters from his school “have my blessing”.

He said: “I believe children should be empowered to influence the decisions that are being made that affect their futures.

"A number of our students have asked permission to attend the march in Brighton and they go with my blessing.

“I know they are hugely concerned about our environment and want to make their voices heard."

Today’s strike was the fourth in Brighton since the movement began in February.

Three thousands pupils and students marched down North Street, Brighton on February 15 to kick off a series of protests.

Organiser Youth Strike for Climate has four demands, one of which they achieved when Parliament declared a climate emergency on May 1.

The movement also wants climate change to take priority in the national school curriculum and for the Government to communicate the severity of climate change to the public.

Finally, it wants the voting age lowered to 16.

Swedish 16 year-old Greta Thunberg kicked off the first youth strike when she protested outside the country's parliament in August last year.

Brighton MP Ms Lucas invited her to Parliament in April, where she spoke to opposition leaders including Labour boss Jeremy Corbyn.