A lift engineer from Kent fears that he will gradually lose his job and his work van if the ULEZ expansion goes ahead in south London.

Richard Podmore drives a non-ULEZ compliant 2013 plate Mercedes van into London four days a week for work.

The 53-year-old believes workers traveling into the ULEZ zones will be made redundant if employers cannot afford to pay the £12.50 daily charge.

He says the expansion is “uncalled for” and “pointless” which is causing stress among engineers in the industry.

Richard told the News Shopper: “We’re a small company, and our boss is great as he provides the vans for us.

“However, if we’re having to pay £12.50 a day, then our company may not be able to provide that for everyone.

“So, we may see people including me being made redundant over this silly scheme.”

Richard, who has been an engineer for three years, says the fear of possibly losing his job is adding stress on him and his family.

He says it may be difficult for him to find another job during the cost-of-living crisis and due to his age.

It will be almost impossible for Richard to go into debt by buying a new van and starting a business of his own.

Richard added: “I am at a certain age now so it’ll be difficult, I can’t afford to buy something of my own.

“I got into this industry to make an honest living and just live my life. Why do we deserve to go through this?”

 “It’s really a difficult time that we’re living in at the moment. Is someone going to be able to employ me being over 50?

“You think about these things, it worries me. It’s not just the £12.50, it’s much more than that and Sadiq Khan does not see that.”

If the expansion does go ahead, Richard worries it will “destroy” workers traveling into the ULEZ areas due to the “high” costs.

He claims that there are already a lot of “pointless” fees when driving in London and the ULEZ will add to this.

Richard added: “You have to pay the ULEZ charge, plus another congestion charge and also for parking.

“They’re getting money for the congestion charge, so what’s the point in having a ULEZ fee?

“It really doesn’t make sense.”

Richard is in doubt that Sadiq Khan will reverse his ULEZ plans ahead of the expansion on August 29.

He feels that people are being ignored by the Mayor of London’s office despite the protests across London.

Richard added: “I doubt his decision will get overturned because the cameras are going up and there’s a lot of advertising on it.

“We will see what happened but unfortunately it’s not looking good.”

Several ULEZ cameras have also been left vandalised across south east London in opposition to the expansion.

Pictures on social media seem to show wires on the ULEZ cameras in Knee Hill, Abbey Wood left slashed.

A spokesperson for Mayor of London said that it is “deeply disappointing” to see opposition to the policy.

It added that this “petty” vandalism of London’s “essential” transport infrastructure is completely “unacceptable”.

A spokesperson for Transport for London said that vandalism on its network is “unacceptable.”

It added that all incidents will be reported to the police for an investigation