Shocking moment masked gang cut down new speed camera with an angle grinder before fleeing on their quad bike – on yet another day in Wild West Britain

This is the shocking moment masked men cut down a new speed camera using an angle grinder before fleeing the scene on a quad bike. 

The alarming scenes took place just after 9pm on Monday on Leeds Road, in Dewsbury, as the pair set about destroying the newly-installed speed camera which had not yet been activated. 

Video posted on social media shows one of the thugs, who was wearing a jacket with the word ‘police’ on the back, run up to the camera pole armed with an angle grinder and start sawing away at the metal structure, causing a sea of sparks. 

Shocked residents can be seen wondering out of their homes after presumably hearing some sort of commotion, to which one of the men says: ‘Carry on cutting’.  

The pole eventually collapses into the middle of the road and the masked man returns to the quad bike with his accomplice who makes a swift getaway. 

During their getaway, the pair pass a police van with its sirens on, heading in the opposite direction to them. 

One of the men can be heard saying: ‘What are you doing?’ before breaking out in laughter and calling out: ‘You f***ing idiot’.

Police said that two poles had been damaged during the night, but the video only shows the gang destroying one. It is unclear whether a second pole was also cut down by the gang. 

One resident who lives nearby told YorkshireLive that a quad bike being driven around the area wasn’t anything new’ and that it ‘happens all the time’ 

‘We saw it while walking our dog, then heard from a neighbour that one further up the street had been done aswell.

‘Probably people inspired by people who cut them down in London for the anti ulez stuff, it’s a race track most nights so it wouldn’t suprise me if it was someone worried about getting caught – the cameras were even active yet the council were waiting for new average speed camera signs to go up.’

Labour Councillor for Dewsbury East Paul Moore added there had been issues with people driving quadbikes since May and he has been in close ‘contact’ with police all summer. 

He told YorkshireLive: ‘One’s got off with a Stihl saw, jumped on the wall and cut it down. I mean they’re lucky they haven’t electrocuted themselves because, although they weren’t working, they were wired in and live.’

West Yorkshire Police said: ‘Police were called to Leeds Road, Dewsbury at about 2109 on Monday October 23 to a report males on a quad bike had caused damage to street furniture between Batley and Dewsbury.

‘Two camera poles were damaged with one having fallen in the road. Local authority highways were made aware and work was carried out in the early hours to make the road safe.

‘Enquiries are ongoing into the offence. Police are also aware of video circulating on social media and are investigating the contents.’ 

It comes after a spree of attacks on ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone) cameras in the capital following the expansion of Sadiq Khan’s much hated scheme in August. 

Anti-ULEZ ‘blade runners’ have attacked hundreds of cameras, prompting the London Mayor to roll out vehicles to catch those flouting the rules. They have been pictured cutting the wires of the cameras to stop them from working and even using an angle grinder to cut the camera down.  

The group have said they will ramp up their action of wrecking cameras which use automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to implement the ULEZ charges. They say they want to bring the expanded ULEZ scheme ‘to its knees’ and have a series of ‘exciting plans’ in place.

Around 250 Blade Runners are thought to be active across the capital. The group has seen more active participation since the zone was expanded on August 29, members previously claimed.

There are about 1,775 ULEZ cameras in London – meaning 1,420 are on the target list.

From August, the £12.50-a-day charge started to apply to non-compliant vehicles across all London boroughs.

It has caused outrage in the suburbs, with Mr Khan’s Tory mayoral election rival Susan Hall promising to scrap it if she wins power.

One Blade Runner said: ‘The target is to get 80 per cent gone in four weeks. That’s the start.

‘There are thought to be around 250 people involved but there’s no official tally. The idea is people are attracted to this themselves. It’s not an official group or society.

‘It’s up to people if they want to take the direct action needed. Jail is on the table. It’s that serious.’

Another Blade Runner, talking anonymously, said: ‘We will not stop and will continue until it is removed and we have our freedom taken without imposed costs where we could travel before freely.

‘There is no organisation behind us. We are just average members of our communities. We’re motivated people working to keep Ulez out of local areas.

‘The people doing this are doing it for themselves and communities. We’re sick and tired of this taxation during a cost of living crisis. We’re struggling to make ends meet.

‘So many of us are struggling to pay rent, energy bills and feed our families. Paying to go to work makes the wages we’re earning impossible to live on and isn’t an option for the average person.’