‘Tyre Extinguishers’ climate activists deflate the tyres of SUVs in Edinburgh

Climate activists quietly let down the tyres of SUVs parked in Edinburgh’s plush New Town on Monday night.

The group – which calls itself the Tyre Extinguishers – boasted that it had deflated the tyres of more than 40 SUVs in the area.

The group said on Twitter, ‘Tyre Extinguishers struck last night in Edinburgh's posh New Town area, finding so many SUVs they ran out of leaflets! (Plenty of lentils left though)

‘The New Town is in the centre of a city with great public transport. These death machines exist only for their owner's vanity.’

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‘Lentils’ refers to the fact that the activists stick a lentil or mung bean inside the valve cap of tyres, so they deflate slowly.

The group promised they ‘will be back’.

The group’s goal is to make people think twice about buying SUV vehicles in urban areas for fear of having their tyres deflated.

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The group left leaflets on windscreens with the slogan, ‘Your gas guzzler kills.’

A spokesperson for Edinburgh Tyre Extinguishers told Edinburgh Live: “The rich of the New Town live in the centre of a city with good, cheap public transport.

"They don’t need to drive these polluting death machines. They exist only to flaunt their wealth."

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Officers have received reports of tyres on a number of vehicles being deliberately deflated in the New Town area of Edinburgh on Monday, 11 April.

"Enquiries are ongoing.”

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A mission statement on the Tyre Extinguishers website says: “The Tyre Extinguishers are a leaderless group where citizens take action in their local area by using a website to learn how to deflate the tyres and to print off a leaflet to leave at the SUV to inform the owner of what has happened, for their safety.

“The group is taking this action because SUVs are a climate disaster – if SUV drivers were a country, they would be the seventh-largest polluting country in the world.

“SUVs cause air pollution. Larger cars belch out more toxic fumes, worsening air pollution in our town and cities. Scientists increasingly link air pollution to a whole range of health problems, from heart attacks, strokes, cancer, lung problems, miscarriages, even mental health problems.

“SUVs are unnecessary. Three-quarters of these ‘off-road’ vehicles are sold to people living in towns and cities. They exist purely for the vanity of their owners, who see them as a status symbol.”

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