Peterborough city-wide car cruising ban considered

A total ban on car cruising meetings could be brought in across a city when councillors meet later.

A working group was set up to examine the effects of associated anti-social behaviour and noise disturbance from some meet-ups to residents of Peterborough.

The city council's proposed injunction could cost up to £50,000 and take up to 18 months to put in place.

It is one of a number of proposals that will be debated at a council meeting.

A cross-party Task and Finish Group, was set to work by the Conservative-led council to examine the issue, said it would cost £30,000-£50,000 to get a legal injunction.

The group noted that a woman was taken to hospital after she was struck by a car in Stapledon Road in Orton Southgate on 11 February.

In July, anti-drifting speed bumps fitted on that road at a cost of £50,000 were ripped up and destroyed less than a week after they were put in, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The task group's new report proposed a list of recommendations.

A city-wide injunction would take time to implement, so the report said in the meantime public space protection orders (PSPOs) could be imposed where fines of up to £1,000 could be given to offenders.

The groups said similar injunctions had been successful in Stevenage in Hertfordshire and in the West Midlands.

Insp Karl Secker said Cambridgeshire Police officers had been working with councillors, the task group and car cruisers.

"The legal [meets] where people just want to show off their cars, it's almost like a family event and we want to support that - it's legal and it's fantastic," he told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

"You then have the illegal events... which cause the anti-social behaviour and the vehicle nuisance - the sound, the popping, the dragging.

"We have a really difficult decision, using what limited resources we have.

"We have some really good relations with some of the car cruising element and we don't want to tar everyone with that same brush... however, where we have seen people continue with the vehicular anti-social behaviour and crime... prevention is better than actioning on the night."

The task group's report will be presented to the council's Growth, Resources and Communities Scrutiny Committee at their meeting on Tuesday evening.

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