Ulez cameras vandalised as Khan scheme faces backlash
SEVERAL new Ulez cameras in south London have been vandalised as the backlash against Sadiq Khan’s planned expansion of the zone grows.
Images have emerged that show four cameras in Abbey Wood in Greenwich, that appear to have had their wires cut.
The devices are Transport for London’s (Tfl’s) Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras that operate 24 hours a day and police the Ulez zone.
The images of damaged cameras come as opposition to Ulez grows, with politicians and campaigners asking the mayor to reverse his decision.
The mayor has stated that the policy is to help reduce the amount of toxic air Londoners are breathing in, and help to lessen the number of Londoners who die prematurely as a result of air pollution.
Susan Hall, leader of the London Assembly Conservatives and chairman of the GLA Police and Crime Committee, criticised anyone who damaged cameras. She said: “While Sadiq Khan is wrong to put cameras up and go against what the people of outer London want, vandalising cameras and doing stuff against the law is unacceptable and should be stopped.”
According to TFL data, a total of 300 new ANPR cameras have been installed across the expanded Ulez zone.
TFL expects to install a further 2,750 before the official launch of the scheme at the end of August, for a cost of at least £45 million.