A ball of flames engulfed both a stolen 4x4 and speed camera on a dual carriageway in a suspected arson attack.

The £40,000 camera in St Helier Avenue, near Morden Hall Park, went up in flames alongside a blue G-reg Daihatsu at about 1am on Sunday.

The car had been stolen from Peterborough Road in Carshalton sometime after 7pm on Saturday.

With no evidence of an accident, police believe the car was intentionally parked next to the camera and set alight in a deliberate act to damage the camera.

Claire Armstrong, who lives on St Helier Avenue, heard a loud bang, looked out of her window and saw an “intense” 14-feet wall of fire. 

She said: “It wasn’t an accident which is what I thought it originally was. As you got closer I could see that the car had simply been parked there.

“It was a deliberate intention to kill the camera.”

Mitcham fire station watch manager, Ned Alexander, said this type of incident was very
common.

He said: “It’s very often a waste of time because a lot of these things are digital and the fine has already been sent to the person’s address.

“You are causing that amount of damage just for one small fine.”

Police temporarily closed the dual carriageway just after 1.15am while firefighters dealt with the blaze, which was put out within 30 minutes, and cleared the debris.

Transport for London (TfL), who manage speed cameras in the capital, confirmed this was the first time any act of vandalism had been recorded at this location.

Ben Johnson, road safety senior delivery planning manager at TfL, said: “We will replace this camera as part of our wider programme to upgrade all safety cameras in London from wet film to digital camera technology from late summer 2013.”

Police are appealing for anyone who may have seen the stolen vehicle being driven in Sutton or Merton on Saturday evening and 1am on Sunday.

Anyone with information should call Merton Police by calling 101.