Ulez cameras covered with bags as drivers fight back
Opponents of the Mayor’s scheme have resorted to guerrilla tactics to try to stop motorists being snared
DRIVERS have taken revenge on Sadiq Khan’s Ulez scheme by covering its enforcement cameras with bags and boxes.
The cameras are for Transport for London’s Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and operate 24 hours a day to police the clean air zone.
Opponents of Ulez have resorted to guerrilla tactics to stop the cameras snaring motorists, including by slinging shopping bags over them.
One camera was spotted covered by a cardboard box with the words “stop electing idiots” printed on its side.
In another part of the capital, vigilantes have used supermarket bags for life to cover two cameras across the street from each other.
The fightback comes as opposition grows against the expansion of the Ulez, with politicians and campaign groups calling on the mayor to reverse his decision. The mayor has repeatedly stated that the policy is to help reduce the amount of toxic air Londoners are breathing in, and help to reduce the number of Londoners who die prematurely as a result of air pollution, which is currently estimated at 4,000.
According to latest 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, at a cost of at least £45 million.
Earlier this month, several Ulez cameras in south London were vandalised and pictures on social media appeared to show their wires had been cut.
The expansion will see the Ulez charge cover all of London’s 32 boroughs.
It will mean after August, all cars that do not meet European emissions standards will have to pay a £12.50 charge every day.
Most petrol vehicles less than 16 years old and diesel vehicles under six years old meet these standards.
The Daily Telegraph revealed last week that the Metropolitan Police could be allowed to use Ulez cameras to monitor crime even if the expansion is delayed.
TFL documents from November propose handing over “sole control” of Ulez cameras to the police, if the expansion was to be delayed, or scrapped altogether. The permissions given to the Met are for the purpose of “preventing and detecting” crime, meaning it will be able to intercept vehicles it believes are involved in criminality.
The proposals have been met with stiff opposition from privacy campaign groups.