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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Sam Elliott-Gibbs

Furious drivers put shopping bags over ULEZ cameras in act of revenge

Furious Londoners have placed cardboard boxes and shopping bags over the cameras that will be used to launch the ULEZ expansion.

Around 700,000 more drivers could be subject to a daily £12.50 fee when the Ultra Low Emission Zone expands this summer.

The controversial enlargement will essentially cover the whole of the capital and will be introduced on August 29.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been slammed for pushing through the idea that generated an estimated £93.6m of additional revenue in the levy's first eight months of operation.

It is now understood to have raked in £250 million since it was implemented in 2019.

Mr Khan said toxic air led to the premature deaths of 4,000 Londoners every year as he justified the expansion.

But businesses says it's all about revenue raising - and they will be hit with more areas now covered as he it stung by accusations of fleecing the poor.

Met Police and British Transport Police will have also have access to the cameras, sparking further privacy fears from campaigners.

Today, a group took to the streets with a protest as the placed items over the Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras.

Protests last week couldn't stop the move being confirmed (Johnny Armstead/REX/Shutterstock)

On a number of boxes across the city, the words 'stop electing idiots' were scribbled.

Images quickly circulated on social media with many calling it a revenge strike.

One wrote on twitter: "Absolutely love that locals in London have covered the money grabbing ULEZ cameras with cardboard boxes and bags for life."

Sadiq Khan says toxic air led to premature deaths of 4,000 Londoners each year (Grant Falvey/LNP)

Another posted" 'This is brilliant!! Taxing the poor yet again. So many people (especially elderly) are going to become so isolated. Plus all the people trying to earn a living on poor pay. Just outrageous."

Transport for London (TfL) has recently said nine out of 10 cars driving in outer London meet the ULEZ standards, so will not be liable for the charge.

Most diesel cars registered before September 2015 and petrol cars registered prior to January 2006 could be made to pay the charge.

As of November 2022, TfL estimated that the number of compliant vehicles within the whole of Greater London stood at 90.5%.

But London's major has been accused of killing businesses and profiting from the poor (Loredana Sangiuliano/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)

However, outer London currently has the lowest proportion of ULEZ-compliant vehicles, with just 85% estimated to be meeting the standards as of January 2023.

The reason for the expansion of the zone, which currently covers the area within London’s North and South Circular roads, is to improve air quality in the city.

Nicholas Lyes, head of roads policy at the RAC said that cleaning up London's air should "undoubtedly be a priority" however, the number of vehicles that don't meet the requirements cannot be ignored.

He said: “We desperately need more coordination between the Mayor and the Government to help small businesses, tradespeople, NHS staff and carers who have no choice but to drive into the expanded ULEZ for work purposes from outside Greater London.

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