Shopping bags and cardboard boxes have begun to appear over the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras installed across the capital by Transport for London (TfL).

More than 300 ANPR devices have recently been installed, with a total of 2,750 expected in time for the official ULEZ expansion launch date of August 29 later this year.

One vigilante placed a box over a camera with the words’stop electing idiots’ printed on the side.

Rather than simply blocking the camera, one vandal decided to send a message to the public about their feelings about the ULEZ scheme.

The scheme aims to reduce air pollution in London, and drivers whose vehicles do not meet minimum emissions standards must pay a daily fee of £12.50 to enter the zone.

However, the Met Police and British Transport Police will have access to the cameras for crime-fighting purposes, raising privacy concerns among campaigners.

The ULEZ is just one of several measures implemented by Sadiq Khan as Mayor of London. Other green initiatives include the many Lower Traffic Neighbourhoods (or LTNs) that block traffic on back roads, as well as the installation of miles of cycle lanes throughout the city.

Many people have taken to social media to applaud the vandals who have been covering the cameras, saying that London mayor Sadiq Khan’s decision to expand the zone to cover the majority of land within the M25 unfairly targets the poor.

Absolutely love that locals in London have covered the money-grabbing ULEZ cameras with cardboard boxes and bags for life,’ Chris Rose tweeted.

Another user suggested tying “a small weight to the bag handle, ensuring the bag does not blow off.”

‘This is brilliant!!’ wrote Elliana Eaton. Yet another tax on the poor. I can’t believe it’s coming to Greater London in August.

‘So many people (particularly the elderly) will become increasingly isolated. Plus all the people attempting to make a living on meagre wages. Simply outrageous.’

Not everyone agreed with the bags covering the cameras, with Twitter user Scott asking, ‘Who wants to live in a city with dirty air?

It’s one of the most recent attacks on the scheme, following the discovery of four cameras in Abbey Wood, Greenwich, with their wires cut and lenses painted black.

Photographs have emerged of a camera in west Sutton that had its wires cut, as well as another in Catford, Lewisham, that had its lens painted black to obstruct its view. Others show cameras being yanked from their perches and thrown to the ground.

The vandals hope that by blocking the camera’s view, drivers who do not meet minimum emissions standards will not be charged the £12.50 daily fee for entering zone +13.
The vandals hope that by blocking the camera’s view, drivers who do not meet minimum emissions standards will not be charged the £12.50 daily fee for entering the zone.

Farmers in tractors paraded the streets of Orpington, southeast London, today (pictured), joining the growing opposition to Sadiq Khan’s Ulez expansion.

Despite the fact that cameras are being installed at a rapid pace in most areas, they have yet to be installed in Bexley, Bromley, Harrow, and Hillingdon, whose councils are planning to sue the mayor over the proposals.

Farmers banded together yesterday to join the growing protests against Sadiq Khan’s Ulez expansion.

Tractors paraded through the streets of Orpington today as residents slammed the Labour Mayor of London’s extreme plan to clean the air.

Gareth Bacon, MP for Orpington, stated that he would “do everything in his power” to prevent Khan’s Ulez charge from coming to Orpington.

‘Not only is the mayor taxing people who do not vote for him, but he will also end up punishing the poor and punishing those on lower incomes who can least afford to buy a newer car to avoid the daily charge,’ he said.

Londoners who own non-ULEZ-compliant cars or motorcycles can apply for a means-tested grant of up to £2,000 to scrap them. However, the decision to proceed with the expansion during a time of high inflation has sparked outrage.

It comes after Honslow Council was accused of hypocrisy for supporting the expansion while also requesting an exemption for its own 400 vehicles.

Last summer, Hounslow council deputy leader Katherine Dunne wrote to the London mayor, expressing concern that the council would be unable to make all of its vehicles ULEZ compliant by the August 2023 deadline.

The council is one of 16 outlying London boroughs that have backed the mayor’s plans to expand the zone, and it already has 37 ULEZ cameras in place.

Let’s be frank, let’s call a spade a spade… some of those outside are far-right, some are Covid deniers, some are vaccine deniers, and some are Tories,’ he said during a heated People’s Question Time in Ealing, west London.

Angry members of the public are said to have yelled back, ‘We are not far-right – normal people are not far-right.’

My point was that there were decent people, including Tory members, who had legitimate objections, and I’m not sure these decent people realised that standing with them were conspiracy theorists and people holding swastikas,’ Mr Khan said in response to the comments.

It was also revealed that the mayor has asked Transport for London to investigate the use of ULEZ cameras to charge car users in the capital under a ‘pay-as-you-drive’ scheme.

The ultra-low emission zone, shown here in purple +13, is set to be expanded on August 29 this year to cover the entirety of Greater London.
The ultra-low emission zone, shown in purple here, will be expanded to cover the entirety of Greater London in August.

Mr Khan has previously stated that he intends to impose a network of ‘Singapore-style’ toll roads across London as part of his efforts to improve the capital’s air quality.

He stated that Singapore was the ‘nearest comparator’ for his road user charging plans because it has ‘electronic road pricing,’ which uses sensors attached to gantries over major roads to capture licence plates.

These sensors monitor when drivers use specific roads and charge them a toll based on these factors, such as rush-hour traffic on a busy road being more expensive.

However, this change is currently not possible in London because “the technology is not there.

Cameras installed as part of the ULEZ expansion, on the other hand, could be used to monitor the distances drivers travel, where they travel, and the level of emissions their vehicles emit, raising concerns that drivers could be charged by the mile.