SUV owners find tyres deflated by Glasgow climate activists

CLIMATE activists in Glasgow have deflated tyres on gas-guzzling SUVS to raise awareness of carbon emissions during the Cop26 summit.

About 60 cars in the city’s West End had the air let out of their tyres by the group called “Tyred of SUVS” – a spinoff from Glasgow Calls Out Polluters.

They left leaflets on the windscreens of targeted cars urging owners to buy smaller vehicles or use public transport. Citing figures from the International Energy Agency, a spokesman for the group said: “If 4x4 drivers were a nation, they’d be the seventh biggest polluters on the planet.

“If the 1 per cent won’t take responsibility for the climate destruction they wreak, we’ll make them.”

Its flyers warned drivers that their car had been “disarmed” by “deflating one or more of its tyres”, adding: “Unnecessary luxury lifestyle choices in rich countries are part of what is driving the climate breakdown.”

Those targeted by the activists, who claimed they had not damaged any of the cars, included Jamie Macconnacher, a pharmacist, who was left with two flat tyres on his Land Rover.

He said he had to pump them up before leaving for work 25 miles away in Aberfoyle, Stirlingshire, making him 45 minutes late. “I have to get to my patients – if I hadn’t had a pump I could have been hours late.

“The knock-on effect of that could be quite significant. We could have a lot of antibiotics needing given out, we’ve got palliative care patients that need access to care at end of life.”

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “We are aware of these incidents and there will be increased patrols to provide reassurance to local residents.”