THE CCTV cars the council uses to catch unsuspecting drivers leaving their engines idling have an “astonishing” design fault.

They have to keep their engines idling to run the batteries on their cameras.

In a shocking revelation from a Freedom of Information request, Waltham Forest council also admitted the CCTV cars are kept idling so the officers inside can have air conditioning.

It comes after the council today boasted it was “leading the drive toward cleaner air in London”.

The local authority’s cars are instantly recognisable – the bug-shaped Toyota IQs are painted a garish lime green and feature a chimney-esque black CCTV pole on their roofs.

Hard to miss

Last month, Melanie Briggs, spotted one of these marvels keeping its engine idling at 8.40am outside Henry Maynard primary school, in Walthamstow.

She duly went over and asked the officers inside to turn the engine off and they “grudgingly” did so.

Half an hour later, she found the same car with its engine “chugging away” and confronted them a second time.

Ms Briggs said they then admitted the battery was needed to keep the cameras going.

The concerned mother said: “We as parents have been actively tackling this at the schools gates by asking people to change their behaviour when we see them doing it.

“So it's astonishing that a pair of council workers, parked outside the school to catch other drivers doing things they shouldn't be, would leave their own engines idling for such a long period of time.

“Despite me and others asking them to stop.”

An FOI request about the same CCTV car Ms Briggs had dealt with confirmed the unfortunate truth.

When asked if the council thought it was acceptable to keep its CCTV cars idling, and what its policy was on it, a spokesman said: “There is no policy but the vehicles have to be kept idling to run the CCTV equipment.”

A council spokesman added that it was “not unlawful to have a vehicle idling” and the cars would continue releasing toxins in the air because of “health and safety”.

The spokesman said: “By the nature of the job being undertaken the car does sit for extended periods of time [sic].

“In the summer the inside of the car can become excessively hot and conversely cold in the winter.

“Therefore the air conditioning has to be operating which the engine needs to be running.”

Despite the council saying it is “not unlawful” to have your car idling, it has been serving £20 Fixed Penalty Notices to those it catches doing it.

In April, the council’s environment chief, councillor Clyde Loakes, was seen cracking down on drivers idling near the school gates.

In a heated exchange between Mr Loakes and a mother dropping her kid off outside St Mary’s primary school in Walthamstow, he was caught on video saying: “You are putting toxins into the air right outside a school.”

The parent, who left her engine running while her child got out of the car in a no-parking area, was heard saying: “I think it is very rude that you are trying to attack me for dropping my child at school. Have a lovely day. Maybe you will get laid next week.”

In a statement today, Mr Loakes welcomed new guidelines on air pollution from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Public Health England (PHE).

The new guidelines recommend councils introduce measures to tackle air pollution from traffic, including stopping engines left idling when vehicles are parked.

Mr Loakes said: “Since 2016 Waltham Forest Council has worked with local residents to educate drivers about the impact of leaving a vehicle engine running while parked - especially around the school gate.

“We have already implemented an anti-idling policy that sees offenders given a Fixed Penalty Notice. This new advice is consistent with our policy.

“Waltham Forest is one of few boroughs to have enacted the legislation that allows councils to issues FPN’s for idling – but we believe this legislation does not go far enough.”