‘Just cut the wires’: why UK conspiracy theorists are destroying traffic scanners

Sensors that monitor vehicle volume are said to be ‘electronic assault weapons’ by the ‘Blade Runners’ group At the top of an extendable ladder on a quiet street of Ilfracombe, in Devon, an older woman dressed smartly in cropped trousers, a red rain jacket and matching red socks is chopping at some wires at the top of a set of traffic lights with a small pair of pliers.

A grey-haired man holding a takeaway coffee…