Industry star left fuming after eco group slashed TEN cars on his road

EXCLUSIVE: Industry star Jonathan Barnwell reveals his rage after eco group Tyre Extinguishers slashed at least TEN cars along his street – including electric vehicles

• Masked eco-zealots reportedly slashed tyres in a west London street on Monday 
• Jonathan Barnwell, star of Industry and Ripper Street, was fuming at the damage
• The actor told MailOnline that many residents feared for their families’ safety

A British TV star has described his rage after eco-vandals slashed tyres to at least ten cars down his street – even targeting electric vehicles.

Jonathan Barnwell, who has appeared in Industry and Ripper Street, said angry residents believe the saboteurs donned scary masks and disguised themselves as trick or treat revellers before leaving behind a trail of destruction on Monday evening.

The actor – who has a one-year-old daughter – said he feared children’s lives were being put at risk by shadowy climate activist group Tyre Extinguishers.

The saboteurs struck under cover of darkness in Randolph Crescent, Maida Vale, west London, leaving up to 20 SUV’s – including electric vehicles and hybrids – with slashed tyres in the street, it’s claimed.

As well as Bentleys and Porsches, activists damaged all-electric Audi e-tron’s and electric BMW’s.

The eco-zealots slashed tyres across the street in Maida Vale, west London on Monday 

Actor Jonathan Barnwell slammed the eco-vandals – saying ‘a flat tyre is as dangerous as it gets’ when driving children 

The attackers left leaflets explaining why they had targeted the vehicles which were placed under windscreen wipers.

Jonathan – who also starred as Seb Oldroyd in BBC hit drama series Industry – told MailOnline: ‘Just before the school run, as mothers and children got in their cars they were shocked to see most of the cars on the street have had their tyres slashed.

‘It was absolute carnage. The damage needs to be paid for but when you have young kids, and many of them are babies, the last thing you want is for your tyre to come off the rim while you’re driving along.

‘It’s no joke. A flat tyre is as dangerous as it gets.’

Organisers said they had deflated tyres in a series of upmarket areas in west London including South Kensington, Maida Vale, St John’s Wood, Queen’s Park, and Holland Park.

They denied slashing tyres, saying they had been deflated by other means.

It comes as organisers boasted it had reached the landmark target of ‘disarming’ 10,000 vehicles around the world.

They said that cities across the globe are competing against each other to target the highest number of vehicles – without a single saboteur being arrested – and boasted of a growing number of celebrity victims.

The vandals left notes to their victims saying ‘your gas guzzler kills’ and arguing even driving electric cars was wrong 

SUVs and high-end cars including BWMs, Bentleys and Porches were targeted 

They have included former BP chief Lord Browne, Guardian columnist Mariella Frostrup and EastEnders star Jessie Wallace.

Jonathan told how he was horrified when he discovered the scale of the damage after he went out early with his daughter to take the family dog for a walk.

He said: ‘It’s scary that this is getting more and more commonplace. It could have been really dangerous for the kids.

‘All the tyres on all the cars were attacked on Halloween.

‘They probably put on masks and disguised themselves as scary people. It would have been the perfect cover. I guess that’s why they chose to do it then.

‘It can be very dangerous when people try to drive and they don’t realise it. I know a couple of my neighbours who were halfway down the street before they realised what was wrong.

‘Most of the cars belonged to parents who were taking their kids to school.

‘In the end they had to call taxis while others had to wait to get their cars towed. A lot of cars were damaged.

‘Many of the parents had two or three kids, some of them very young.

‘I counted 10 cars in my part of the street but there were a lot more.

‘About half of them were fully electric or hybrids. The joke is these are people who are trying to make a difference.

Residents were left fuming when they discovered the damage done to their vehicles 

The radical eco group claimed it had ‘disarmed 10,000 SUV death machines’ over the last few months  

‘There were some nice cars as well – the Bentleys and Porsches but they weren’t discriminating.

‘It makes no sense at all.

‘They targeted large SUV 4×4 style cars – and left leaflets on the wind shield justifying it.

‘There are huge risks if someone with children had attempted to drive . Someone could have got hurt.’

The real-life drama happened on Monday night but today many of the vehicles were ‘still sitting there with their flat tyres’.

Jonathan said he was one of the few people to escape the carnage.

He said: ‘My car was parked near the end of the road so maybe that’s why it wasn’t targeted.

‘It’s also 15 years old. It’s a Renault Tiguan. It doesn’t look very flash. It’s not very pretty so maybe they decided it wasn’t worth doing.’

In a statement West London TX said: ‘We deflated the tyres of 184 SUVs by administering lentils into the valve caps.’

They said that ‘in cities especially’ the vehicles ‘serve no function other than flaunting wealth and individuals convenience’.

The statement added: ‘We cannot sit idle as the luxurious property of the few bring us closer and closer to runaway climate breakdown.

‘Immobilising SUVs is a small and necessary act of resistance in the face of environmental catastrophe.’

The organisation, which describes itself as ‘a network of autonomous groups that act independently’, began actions in the UK in March and claim they are active in at least 15 countries including the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand and Italy.

The group said: ‘The Tyre Extinguishers are celebrating a major milestone after hitting the target of 10,000 SUVs deflated since March.

‘This milestone came earlier than expected, with the group originally aiming to reach this by Christmas.’

Spokesperson Marion Walker added: ‘In a little over half a year, we have spread all over the world and disarmed 10,000 SUV death machines.

‘This is only the start. We expect many more people all over the world to join in. We will keep going, until SUVs are in the dustbin of history.’

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