CITY-DWELLERS who drive their children to school in large, gas-guzzling 4x4 vehicles are to be targeted by an alliance of environmental groups.

Drivers in Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham and London will be confronted at junctions near schools next week by protesters seeking to shame then into buying smaller cars.

The Alliance Against Urban 4x4s is stepping up its campaign after figures revealed that a record number of off-road vehicles were sold last year. Sales of 4x4s grew by 12.8 per cent to 179,439, more than double the number sold a decade ago. Manufacturers reported a corresponding fall in demand for small, fuel-efficient vehicles.

More than a fifth of the 4x4s were sold in the Greater London area and only a fraction were expected ever to be taken off-road by their owners.

The “Chelsea Tractors” have proved particularly popular among women drivers, who like the lofty view of the road and the sense of safety and security when behind the wheel of such a large vehicle.

The alliance, made up of members of the Green Party, Friends of the Earth, Transport 2000 and other groups, is seeking to highlight the dangers to other road users posed by 4x4s. The larger models perform badly in pedestrian crash protection tests, with only the Volvo XC90 achieving more than one star. The Suzuki Grand Vitara scored no stars and its record in crashes with pedestrians was described as “dire” in its safety report from the European new car assessment programme. Most family cars gained at least two stars and several achieved three stars.

Research in the United States has shown that someone struck by a 4x4 is more than twice as likely to die as someone hit by a saloon car travelling at the same speed.

A car driver is also around four times more likely to be killed if hit from the side by a 4x4 than by a saloon, according to the American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The alliance also accuses 4x4 owners of causing excessive pollution by choosing vehicles that have high carbon dioxide emission.

Some versions of the Range Rover produce 389 grammes of CO2 per kilometre, double the rate of the Ford Mondeo.

Sian Berry, one of the founders of the alliance, said that the protests would be peaceful and would involve campaigners dressed as headmasters handing out fake school reports to parents in 4x4s: “These drivers get an ‘E’ for safety and a ‘D’ for environmental damage. Parents who drive their childen to school in 4x4s are being extremely irresponsible. Their cars have seen less off-road action than the average pram.”

She said that parents were wrong to believe that their children would be safer in 4x4s. Figures from Churchill Insurance reveal that 4x4s are 25 per cent more likely to be involved in crashes than ordinary family cars. The alliance is calling for higher road tax for 4x4s and a “ban on mainstream advertising”.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has also described 4x4s as “totally unsuitable for the school run”.

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