COUNTER-terrorism police were last night investigating a bomb attack that blew up a Ulez camera.
The blast rocked a residential street and left a gaping hole in a builder’s van.
It destroyed the camera, which had been in place for only a few hours as a replacement for another that had been attacked.
The Met’s SO15 Counter-Terrorism Command is investigating and the force confirmed that what it called “a low-sophistication improvised explosive device” had been used.
The camera, which monitors the £12.50-a-day zone, is one of hundreds targeted by vigilante drivers.
Spectacular New Year fireworks light up London sky as huge crowds celebrate across UK for first time in three years
The blast in Sidcup, South East London, blew the transformer box across the street into a construction manager’s van.
He said: “Thank God my van was in the way — otherwise it would have gone through my living room window.”
A neighbour’s wall was hit by shrapnel while another had a window shattered.
The Met’s Det Chief Supt Trevor Lawry said: “This was an extremely dangerous incident.”
Another witness told how a bus was passing by at the time of the blast and narrowly avoided being hit by debris.
The ULEZ was expanded to every London borough in September and its cameras snare non-compliant cars with a daily £12.50 charge.
As a general rule, most petrol cars made before 2006 and Diesel cars produced before 2015 have to pay the fee.
By nighttime, dozens of Met Police units had been called to the scene whilst hundreds of puzzled residents lined the street.
Residents as far away as Danson Park - more than two miles away in Bexleyheath - even reported hearing the deafening blast.
Earlier that day anti-ULEZ protesters had reportedly taken down the box with an angle grinder.
Robbie Williams poised to launch his own brand of energy drinks to rival Prime
It is unclear whether the blast was a delayed response to the camera being cut down or if protesters had returned with explosives to finish the job.
But locals have pointed the finger at London Mayor Sadiq Khan for inviting the carnage onto their doorsteps.
The witness said: “I didn’t want to have the camera right outside my house in the first place - they didn’t ask us.
“We thought something like this would happen - but certainly not this quickly.
“Now we have this chaos literally on our doorstep.”
Anti-ULEZ protesters - known as ‘Blade Runners’ have vowed to take down all of the cameras put up in London’s outer boroughs in recent months.
The construction manager added: “My car is ULEZ compliant but I was never for it - I always thought it was a tax on the poor.
“But if somebody has caused it to blow up, that’s not acceptable either.
“I’ve got two kids and they could have been seriously hurt.”
