ENVIRONMENTAL activists are threatening to deflate the tyres of SUVs owned by people who drive to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The Tyre Extinguishers warned SUV owners they might find “lentils in the tyres” if they drive to the Scottish capital next month.
The group said its supporters deflated tyres on 45 SUVs in the city on Wednesday night. That was at least the sixth night of action since the group’s formation in March.
Campaigners targeted the Dean Village area, including Eton Terrace, Belgrave Crescent, Belgrave Place, Lennox Street and Oxford Terrace.
They deflate tyres by pushing small objects into their valves.
Amy Kidd, a spokesperson for the group, said: “If you’re visiting Edinburgh for the festival, leave your polluting SUV at home, otherwise you might wake up to find lentils in the tyres.
“We’re happy for you to visit the city, just don’t choke our lungs and clog up our streets doing it.”
The Tyre Extinguishers want to “make it impossible” to own SUVs in urban areas.
It describes them as “a climate disaster”, “dangerous” and “unnecessary”.
SUVs were the second largest contributor to the increase in global carbon emissions from 2010 to 2018. SUVs emit 700 megatonnes of CO2 worldwide annually - roughly equivalent to the output of the UK and the Netherlands combined.
The Tyre Extinguishers say even electric and hybrid SUVs are “fair game” as there are “not enough rare earth metals” to replace all cars with them, and “the danger to other road users still stands”.
Its supporters began deflating SUV tyres in towns and cities across the UK in March, and the movement has since spread overseas to countries such as Germany, Sweden, the US and New Zealand.
The group estimates it has deflated the tyres on around 200 cars in Edinburgh as well as targeting vehicles in Dundee. Accounting for their actions in the wider UK, they estimate to have targeted around 4000 SUVs.
The Fringe, which will put on its first full programme since 2019, begins on August 5.
