TfL faces £10m bill for damage to Ulez cameras in six months

VANDALS attacking Ulez cameras have run up a repair and replacement bill of up to £10 million in only six months.

The estimated total comes as Transport for London (TfL), which runs the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez), is now being forced to hire security guards to protect engineers installing and repairing cameras and mobile Ulez camera vans.

Latest figures show that from April 1 to Oct 31 this year, the Met Police recorded 220 cameras stolen and 767 cameras damaged. With each camera believed to be worth £10,000, the total would come to £9.87million if they all need to be replaced.

TfL refused to comment on the sum, saying that the cost of Ulez cameras was commercially sensitive and would also encourage more attacks, and denied that the losses would be recouped by raising the £12.50 a day Ulez charge and insisted the repair bill would be covered by the existing Ulez budget.

There are more than 3,400 cameras in place across the London-wide Ulez. An insider at TFL said there are currently between 40 to 60 attacks on Ulez cameras a week.

There has been widespread evidence of cameras and vans becoming the target of activists as they are sprayed with paint or even toppled in an effort to halt the tax on drivers.

Vans with automatic number plate recognition have been rolled out by the Mayor of London in an attempt to curb the rise in Ulez-related crimes.

But enforcement officers are now donning balaclavas, sunglasses, caps and dark clothing in a bid to hide their identities as they face growing abuse from angry residents and protestors.

Neil Garratt, the leader of the Conservative group in the London Assembly said: “The Ulez expansion is costing Londoners millions of pounds every week and people are rightly angry.

A TfL spokesperson said: “Camera vandalism will not stop the Ulez operating London-wide. All vandalised cameras are repaired or replaced as soon as possible.