Search for two people in Brighton after car tyres deflated

The pair were captured on CCTV entering Bernard Road from Hartington Road in Brighton at around 3.40am on Tuesday, March 15. Several cars had their tyres deflated in the area around that time.

Since the weekend of March 7, Sussex Police have received 54 reports of cars having tyres deflated. The vast majority were overnight on the weekend of March 7 and March 8.

The incident happened the night before a similar incident where a hybrid SUV was targeted in Wilbury Avenue, Hove.

The spate of tyre deflating incidents is largely being done by a group called Tyre Extinguishers, which is thought to be a splinter group of Extinction Rebellion.

The Lexus NX 300h which was found with its tyres deflated on March 16

The group said it wanted to “make it impossible to own an SUV in the UK’s urban areas”.

There have been incidents all over the country over the same time period.

Many of the cars, which are normally SUVs, have been left with leaflets saying that people who drive their “massive” car in cities are having “huge consequences for others”.

Inspector Nicky Stuart, of Brighton and Hove’s neighbourhood policing team, said: “We understand the impact these crimes are having on the community and I would like to reassure the public that our officers are working round the clock to catch those responsible.

“This type of behaviour will absolutely not be tolerated in Brighton and Hove, and while we have seen a marked drop in the number of incidents since the weekend of March 7/8, any such occurrences are unacceptable.

“We are exploring several lines of enquiry, but as always the public are our eyes and ears. If you see anything suspicious, recognise either of these two individuals or have any information that could help, contact police online or by calling 101, quoting Operation Extinguisher.”

The government is ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK by 2030 as part of its pledge to decarbonise cars and vans.