Sadiq Khan risks parking fine after taking a stroll with mayor's Range Rover 4x4 parked on double yellow lines
29 April 2023, 17:43 | Updated: 15 May 2023, 15:45
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has been pictured walking while a pair of Metropolitan Police 4x4s were parked on double yellow lines.
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Photos from Friday morning show the mayor wandering along Upper Street in Islington, north London while flanked by Metropolitan Police officers.
Two Met Police Range Rover 4x4s are seen parked along the street's double yellow lines, images published by MailOnline show.
They reportedly remained in the same place for around 90 minutes.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “As stipulated by government security officials, in exactly the same way as the PM and other Cabinet Ministers, Sadiq has round the clock police protection due to credible threats to life.
"These are Met issue protection vehicles.”
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An eyewitness said the drivers did not remain in the vehicles and their engines were switched off.
It comes as controversy builds ahead of the expansion of ULEZ to cover the whole of London from August 29.
The policy will see the drivers of all vehicles which don't comply with emissions standards charged £12.50 for each day they travel into the capital.
It's intended to cut air pollution in the capital, which is thought to have caused around 4,000 deaths in 2019.
Secretive activists calling themselves the 'Blade Runners' say they are attacking ULEZ cameras, vowing they won't stop until every single one is taken down.
One activist, a father in his mid-40s who wore a balaclava and declined to have his name published, told MailOnline he had taken down 34 himself.
He said many more had been targeted by others.
"We are going to take down every single one no matter what," he said.
The Mayor's Office said it was disappointing opponents to the scheme are resorting to vandalism.
ULEZ is not 'about air quality' argues London Assembly Member
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."
The campaign group Clean Air in London says Ulez has reduced concentrations of nitrogen dioxide at the roadside where people most vulnerable to air pollution live, and attributes more than 15,000 deaths in the last four years to man-made particles in the air.
Former Deputy Mayor for Transport Heidi Alexander says Sadiq Khan' is 'brave' to expand ULEZ
