Eighty-five SUV owners in Camden woke up to deflated tyres following a climate activist group's night of action by in Primrose Hill and Hampstead.

The group, called The Tyre Extinguishers, claims to have deflated the tyres of 40 SUVs in Hampstead and 45 in Primrose Hill on April 22 – just one of the nights on which the group says it has taken action this year.

The group has refused to reveal its members' identities but it said in response to emailed questions: "We want to make it impossible to own a huge polluting 4x4 in the world’s urban areas.

"SUVs are a climate disaster, an air pollution disaster, and a public safety disaster. We are residents defending ourselves from these death machines.

Ham & High: The group place a leaflet on cars' windscreen to explain their mission.The group place a leaflet on cars' windscreen to explain their mission. (Image: The Tyre Extinguishers)

"Rich parts of inner London like Hampstead and Primrose Hill are hotspots for the purchase of unnecessary, massive polluting vehicles. These machines are pure vanity for the rich.

"The law isn't important to us. The real vandalism is putting your own vanity ahead of the right of many others to live."

The Met Police was approached for comment but a spokesperson previously asked people to report incidents through its website so that officers can assess them "to establish whether offences have been committed".