07 December 2023 , 18:36
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An Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) camera was destroyed by a suspected improvised explosive device, prompting an investigation by counter terrorism officers.
The camera, installed in Sidcup, south east London, had been cut down at about noon on Wednesday and was destroyed hours later in the explosion. Nobody was hurt in the explosion, although it narrowly avoided hitting a bus which had passed by moments before.
A bystander told how the blast damaged a nearby van and took a chunk out of a wall, leaving shrapnel across the road. The Met’s Counter Terrorism Command confirmed it is being treated as a deliberate act and caused by a “low-sophistication” IED.
Det Chief Supt Trevor Lawry, Commander for the Bexley area said: “Thankfully, nobody was injured as a result of this incident, but it is extremely concerning that an explosive device seems to have been deliberately placed in a public place. This could have very easily resulted in members of the public being very seriously injured.
No one was hurt in the incident, although shrapnel was scattered nearby (Grant Falvey/LNP)“Because of the seriousness of this incident, we are making urgent enquiries to try and identify anyone involved, and officers with specialist expertise and capability from our Counter Terrorism Command are leading the investigation. This was an extremely dangerous incident that could have resulted in innocent members of the public being injured or worse. If you have any information that could assist our investigation, then I would urge you to get in touch immediately.”
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The scene of the incident, where officers are investigating (Grant Falvey/LNP)One witness who filmed the aftermath said on social media: “Ulez camera’s been dismantled, blown the geezer’s van in half, shrapnel everywhere. Broke the geezer’s fence.”
Another resident told how a bus had just passed when the bomb went off and that the driver was given oxygen in a fire engine. She said: “It was a big explosion, they heard it from miles away. It was unbelievable, everybody came running out. It sounded like a bomb had exploded. We’d seen the ULEZ camera go up about 12 o’clock in the afternoon. It wasn’t there for long.”
Investigations are ongoing (Grant Falvey/LNP)Helia Sinclair said her three-year-old son’s PVC bedroom window was shattered by the blast, leaving shards scattered across the floor. She added: “At 6.45pm there was a huge flash across my house’s windows and a huge bang. I screamed ‘bomb, bomb’, on the phone to my aunt. I first thought it was on the roof of the house, so I jumped on the sofa and hunched myself, then I realised that nothing else was happening, but then all the sirens of the cars around us were going off.”
Officers said they were called to Willersley Avenue at about 18.47pm on Wednesday “following reports that a ULEZ camera had exploded”. No arrests have been made. Ulez was expanded over the summer to include all of London’s boroughs.
Drivers must pay a charge of £12.50 per day to drive a non-compliant vehicle anywhere in the zone under the clean-air plan.