Breckland District Council designing new rules to deter boy racers tearing through Thetford
New rules are being designed to deter boy racers from tearing through a town
Breckland Council is planning to introduce measures against car meets after a series of events held in towns across the district, including Thetford.
The gatherings, attended by as many as 500 people, have been on the rise over the last few years and resulted in complaints of noise, littering and safety fears.
The council plans to increase the number of fines issued to people at these meets to discourage ‘poor behaviour’ among attendees.
The new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) would be in force across the entire district to tackle the widespread issue.
Breckland has the highest rate of complaints relating to car meets outside Norwich with Norfolk Police receiving an average of 65 calls a year to these events.
These have been most commonly reported in Thetford, as well as Swaffham and Dereham, and are often attended by hundreds of people.
While the council says the majority of those involved are ‘responsible road users’, the issue arises from the scale of attendance and instances of drag-style street racing, stunt driving, excessive engine revving, cars being driven in race-style circuits around towns and villages and noise from stereos.
The new rules would give police officers additional powers to issue warnings and fines of £100 to anyone attending a car meet who is causing a disturbance in this way.
A report to Breckland Council said: “There is substantial evidence of repeated and persistent vehicle related anti-social behaviour in the district.
“Residents have been reporting being disturbed regularly in the evenings and weekends, sometimes very late into the night.
“Due to the county-wide impact we are concerned that only covering current hotspots could displace the issue to other areas within our district.”
The council will meet next week to discuss whether to implement the new PSPO across the entire district for the next three years.