A masked man who has claimed to have ripped down the Mayor of London’s Ulez cameras has said his group will not stop until they have all been destroyed.
Drivers will be asked to pay £12.50-a-day to travel in Greater London from August 29, if their vehicle doesn’t meet certain environmental standards causing some activists to take matters into their own hands.
The balaclava-clad vandal, a father in his mid-40s, said he was part of a group called Blade Runners and told MailOnline he dismantled 34 himself.
“We are going to take down every single one no matter what,” he told MailOnline.
“In terms of damage it’s way more than what [Sadiq Khan and Transport for London] have stated. It’s at least a couple of hundred.
“Snipping, damaging with hammers, painting, disabling on a circuit level and removing. They are unbolted and they are snipped.
“The tools they use to install them are the ones we use to remove it. We don’t want this. It’s a way to try to... restrict our movements.
“F*** them. It will not happen because we haven’t done anything to deserve it.”
The Met said it does not believe it has investigated damage to Ulez cameras.
A spokesperson told LBC: “Obviously there’s potential for the potential offences to be investigated as, for instance, criminal damage or theft.”
The Mayor’s office said it has recorded 43 cases of vandalism or theft of Ulez cameras to March 21.
A spokesperson for Mr Khan said: “It is deeply disappointing to see opposition to a policy being used as an excuse for criminal damage.
“This petty vandalism of London’s essential transport infrastructure is completely unacceptable.”
They added: “People are of course entitled to show their opposition to policies peacefully and lawfully. But causing criminal damage is never acceptable.”
It came after Sutton Council urged its residents to sign a petition calling on the mayor to “think again” about widening the ultra-low emission zone on August 29.
Dozens of anti-Ulez protesters attended a council meeting on Monday leading to rowdy scenes as some Ulez supporters were shouted down.
It came as the borough’s two Tory MPs, Minister for London Paul Scully and Elliot Colburn, revealed they were “exploring” whether the Government had the power to block the mayor’s plans.
This is despite Transport Secretary Mark Harper telling Parliament last week that Mr Khan was legally entitled to install Ulez enforcement cameras and warning signs in the outer boroughs, regardless of local opposition.
