Edinburgh Festival-goers told to 'leave car at home' after 45 SUV tyres deflated in Dean

Climate activists have warned SUV drivers attending next month’s Edinburgh Festival to leave “polluting SUVs at home” after deflating 45 tyres in the city.

The group, calling themselves the Tyre Extinguishers, let the air out of more than 45 high carbon emission vehicles in the “posh” Edinburgh area of Dean on Wednesday night, with cars being targeted in Eton Terrace, Belgrave Crescent, Belgrave Place, Lennox Street and Oxford Terrace.

It comes weeks after 30 others came under attack in the capital’s Portobello area.

Now with the city’s annual Edinburgh Festival expected to attract over 1.5m visitors in August, the group have warned drivers to leave the car behind.

Amy Kidd, from Edinburgh Tyre Extinguishers, said: “If you’re visiting Edinburgh for the festival, leave your polluting SUV at home, otherwise you might wake up to find lentils in the tyres.

“We’re happy for you to visit the city, just don’t choke our lungs and clog up our streets doing it.”

This is at least the seventh Tyre Extinguishers action in Edinburgh since March, with the group claiming responsibility for similar incidents in cities across the UK as well as those in Europe, the United States and New Zealand.

The climate activists have demanded newly elected councillors “take action in climate, air pollution and road safety” by “taxing [the vehicles] out of existence”.

They added their end goal was to make it “impossible” to own an SUV – which can contribute up to 25 per cent more CO2 on average than smaller cars – in urban areas.