'ULEZ 'Blade Runners' Target Chiswick

Cables cut on eight monitoring cameras in the area

ANPR cameras on Milnthorpe Road and Park Road with their cables severed
ANPR cameras on Milnthorpe Road and Park Road with their cables severed

Participate

Midwives Given Grove Park Access Restriction Exemption

More Access for Carers Proposed in Grove Park

Delayed Grove Park Bridge Repair Works to Resume

Council Extends Grove Park Traffic Exemptions to Carers

Plan to Close Strand on the Green Footbridge Postponed

Grove Park Traffic Scheme 'Call-in' Request Denied

Councillors 'Call-in' Grove Park Traffic Schemes for Review

Another Rail Bridge in Chiswick Needs Major Repair

Value of Grove Park Fines Topped £13 Million Last Year

Strand on the Green Businesses 'On the Brink'

Fines Issued on Fishers Lane Now Exceed a Million Pounds

Sign up for our weekly Chiswick newsletter

Comment on this story on the

July 31, 2023

Eight cameras used to enforce the Ultra Low Emission Zone in the Chiswick have reportedly had their cables cut.

The action is believed to be the work of a group that styles themselves as the Blade Runners who have posted on Tik Tok about their activities and claim to have 100 members across the country.

Photos released on social media show the wires at the back to the cameras severed.

The cameras reportedly vandalised are at Eastbourne Road, Milnthorpe Road, Park Road, Devonshire Road, Dorchester Grove, Church Street, Burlington Lane and Palladian Gardens.

Chiswick has a high number of ULEZ camera because, at the moment, the scheme does not operate on the section of the A4 between Chiswick Roundabout and Hogarth Roundabout, increasing the number of entry points to the zone.

The Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) devices are used to levy the daily charge and fines on non-compliant vehicles entering the zone. Currently Chiswick is on the outer edge of the zone but it is due to be extended to the M25 on 29 August.

A challenge to the expansion in the High Court failed last week.

The group appears to have started its activities in April when cameras in the Chiswick area were vandalised and police charged two men with damaging cameras in May. In all 96 incidents of damage to cameras have been reported in the London area this year.

A man claiming to be from the Blade Runners group gave an interview to the Mail Online in which he said they planned to remove all of the ANPR devices. Disguising his identity with a balaclava, he said that he had personally removed 34 and the group had taken down or disabled hundreds.

He said, 'In terms of damage it's way more than what [Khan and TfL] 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.'

A pile of ULEZ enforcement cameras that the 'Blade Runners' claim to have removed
A pile of ULEZ enforcement cameras that the 'Blade Runners' claim to have removed. Picture: Twitter

A spokesperson for TfL said 'Vandalism on our network is unacceptable. All incidents are reported to the police for investigation.'

The Mayor of London remains committed to expanding the scheme despite reservations about it within his own party following Labour’s defeat at the Uxbridge by-election. He said, 'We know every day that there are people dying prematurely.

'There are children with stunted lungs because of air pollution, adults with a whole load of health issues.

'So we’re going to carry on doing what we can to support Londoners [with the expansion].

'But the reality is that actually 95 per cent of Londoners who drive a car in inner London have a compliant vehicle. In outer London, it’s around 90 per cent.

'Clearly, we need to make sure that more Londoners with non-compliant vehicles have the support they need.'

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.


Bookmark and Share