A coughing robot teddy bear is helping to highlight the levels of toxic air in the capital.
Campaigners James Crosby and Will Cottam, both creatives at advertising agency McCann London, are using a soft toy because it can be difficult for people to “visualise” toxic air.
“Toxic Toby” is pinned to lamp posts next to flowers to make it look like a memorial. But he startles pedestrians by raising a paw and coughing when air pollution breaches legal levels .
The movements are controlled remotely by Mr Crosby and Mr Cottam, who are hidden from view.
The men analyse pollution data from the BreezoMeter website to work out when to animate the bear. Toby has a speaker in his chest, and can also move his head and raise his eyebrows.
Mr Crosby said: “People tell us they’ve lived on a road for years but didn’t realise how polluted it was.”
Toby is being deployed on highly polluted streets such as Marylebone Road and Brixton Road.
