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| RACE TRACK: Inset and below Tollbar Way in Hedge End was the scene of illegal car racing. |
Play videoTHEY tore their cars and motorbikes up and down the roads like they were in the Grand Prix.
Screeching around the roundabouts with wheels spinning and burning tyre marks into the ground, the souped-up cars would race up and down relentlessly - at speeds of more than 60 mph - until the early hours.
On the cobbled embankment and pavements, swelling crowds of more than 300 people who had travelled from across the south gathered to watch - some filming the stunts on their mobile phones while others were even stood waving chequered flags.
This was no organised sporting spectacle - just a typical night in Hedge End, Hampshire, last summer.
It was when Hampshire police's control room and non-emergency 101 phone line began to jam with complaints from residents living in nearby Grange Park that officers based at Totton's Roads Policing Unit (RPU) decided enough was enough.
Despite traditional measures like placing marked police vehicles in the area and randomly erecting a ring of steel to trap the racers in one area while checks were carried out, it was not enough to put an end to the weekly Sunday night meets.
The officers had endured golf balls thrown at their windows and a firework launched at their vehicles by the mass crowd.
Inside the surrounding fast food outlets and restaurants terrified customers would stay inside, too terrified to try and leave the car park that had also become a race track where start and finish lines had been painted onto the ground.
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Instead, a team of officers from the RPU's Community Reassurance Team turned to covert tactics to capture some of those causing a nuisance. Today ten people have been successfully prosecuted and a further six warned against taking part or allowing their vehicles to be used in antisocial driving.
The convictions, under Operation Promontory, have already had a major effect on car cruising meets on busy Tollbar Way - and officers are vowing to continue until Hedge End and its surrounding 40mph zones returns to the peaceful area they once were.
It was on four consecutive Sunday evenings in August and September last year when plain clothed officers, armed with video cameras, joined the throngs to watch the car cruisers in action.
On one occasion a motorcyclist with a pillion passenger can be seen doing wheelies up and down the dual carriageway while cars raced up and down between the roundabouts. On a separate evening a car decides to U-turn before the roundabout, dangerously turning the wrong way despite other cars coming down the road.
Meanwhile, the spectators - who had come from as far afield as Bournemouth, Brighton and Poole - can be seen taking their lives in their own hands by running across the road and dodging the vehicles, in some cases by less than a second.
Acting Chief Inspector Darren Miller said: "Fortunately there have been no injuries or accidents in Hedge End but this problem was largely nipped in the bud before it got that far and it was more a case of luck. It would only have been a matter of time.
"They were getting their kicks from adrenaline. The cars were coming around the roundabouts sideways, the drivers handing over the control of their vehicle to fate.
"The car parks surrounding were like race tracks. It concerned me that they were doing this in a confined space and that in a matter of seconds they could be out on the roads. I was very worried about the mindset of these people."
The covert filming was the police response in a combined effort involving the council, councillors and local businesses, to stamp out the car cruising problem that was plaguing the area.
Acting chf insp Miller added; "There was a very clear message that something wasn't right in Hedge End and it was getting worse. It was really starting to get out of hand and we knew we needed to take action.
"Despite high visibility patrols and the ring of steel they were not getting the message. We decided on a covert operation but a balance had to be struck between stopping what was happening quickly and catching those responsible."
Furnished with enough evidence including clear footage of the vehicles involved, letters warning of intent to prosecute were hand delivered to the homes of the registered owners, inviting them to visit a police station.
All came forward voluntarily and only one refused to reveal who was driving the car on the night in question.
All ten people were taken through the courts one by one - nine pleaded guilty to charges relating to car cruising and the tenth was later found guilty.
Acting Chief Insp Miller said: "This is how it was last summer in Hedge End but times have changed. We have taken combined action to tackle the problem but there is still an issue and we are taking action to deal with it and it is a priority in this area.
"There has been police activity in the area in recent weeks. We can't afford to be complacent and have had speed enforcement measures placed on the roads and signs will be put up in the area to remind people about antisocial driving.
"My hope is that these convictions send a clear message to those who continue to go up there that it just will not be tolerated."
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/spotlight/display.var.1646610.0.danger_drivers_race_for_kicks.php
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