A six-year-old girl and an adult have been taken to hospital after a crash in Orpington at the same place where traffic lights and ULEZ cameras were vandalised overnight.
Police were alerted shortly before 8.30am today (Thursday) to the crash involving two vehicles at the location of one of the damaged traffic lights on Court Road.
The pair were taken to hospital for head injuries and their condition has been assessed as non-life-threatening.
Photos from the scene show a number of police, ambulance and fire crews at the incident.
Fire crews attended at 8.48am to clear a fuel spillage and the incident was over for firefighters by 9.09am.
Police are investigating criminal damage to five sets of lights which carried out overnight on January 18, which required two units to manage traffic rather than respond to 999 calls following the damage.
Chief Inspector Priya Shome said the vandals "are putting the public at risk" and urged them to consider "the danger they are causing to road users."
A resident told the News Shopper that the cameras were cut down at the junction where Spur Road and Court Road meet.
The photos show the poles on the ground with cars on the road next to it trying to navigate the junction without traffic lights.
On Facebook, many Orpington residents shared their thoughts on the spate of ULEZ cameras cut down across the area recently.
Many people shared the opinion that, while they understand the desire to protest the ULEZ expansion, it becomes dangerous when it starts to affect traffic lights.
Chief Inspector Shome, based in Bromley, said: "We are investigating the criminal damage to five sets of traffic lights in the Orpington area overnight which has caused major traffic management issues.
"Two police units, who should have been available to answer 999 calls, were instead required to spend the morning managing traffic.
"The people who are carrying out this criminal damage are putting the public at risk.
"This morning, there has been a collision between two cars on Court Road, at the location of one of the damaged traffic lights, in which a child was injured.
"I would urge the people carrying out these crimes to stop immediately and think about the danger they are causing to road users."
A spokesperson for Metropolitan Police said: “Police were called shortly before 08.30hrs on Thursday, 18 January. Two vehicles were involved in a collision.
“An adult and a six-year-old girl, were taken to hospital to be treated for head injuries.
“Their condition has been assessed as non life-threatening.”
A spokesperson for London Fire Brigade said: “Firefighters were called to a fuel spillage following a road traffic collision on the junction of Old Priory Avenue and Court Road in Orpington.
“The Brigade was called at 0848 and the incident was over for firefighters by 0909. One fire engine from Orpington Fire Station attended the scene.”
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