MORE than 110 drivers are to be prosecuted for speeding and other offences following two ‘boy racer’ gatherings in Essex over the weekend.
Officers from Essex Police Casualty Reduction Section and road policing units attended the incidents at Maldon on Friday night and at Lakeside, Thurrock on Saturday night.
At Maldon, officers found that a large number of high-performance cars were assembling at the car parks of the Tesco and Morrisons supermarkets and driving a circular route around the town to Promenade Park and High Street.
A total of 71 drivers were seen committing offences, the majority being speeding. One car was recorded travelling at 70mph along Mundon Road where there is a 30mph limit.
In a similar operation of Lakeside on Saturday, officers recorded 46 offences in the area around West Thurrock Way where cruiser gatherings also involve illegal street racing.
Most of the offences were for speeding on the 40mph restrictions roads and speeds recorded ranged from 48mph to 78mph.
One vehicle which was seen speeding at 58mph was later seen driving the wrong way round a roundabout and the driver was also reported for careless driving.
Adam Pipe, the Essex Police Casualty Reduction Manager, said: "Some outrageous speeds have been recorded over the weekend, especially at Maldon and along the High Street.
"We acted on the concerns of local residents and the local council about the growth of "boy-racer” and cruiser-style activity in the Maldon area, but this sort of behaviour is happening across the county.
"There has been a seasonal increase in speeding, drifting around corners, wheelspins and other forms of anti-social driving where offenders have no regard for the safety of other road users.
"We have also found that drivers who break speed limits on their local roads tend to be those people who take part in the illegal street-racing at Lakeside on a Saturday night.
"We have also found that many of those who have been prosecuted for offences at Saturday night are from Sussex, Kent, London and even further afield.
"It is also possible that a vehicle that went out of control at a ‘cruise’ in Peterborough on Saturday night and injured seven people, could have been at a Saturday night Lakeside event in the past.
"In the past four months we have had four serious injuries at Lakeside events where motorbikes went out of control.
"We continue to take action against those irresponsible drivers who put at risk their own lives and the lives of innocent road users.”
Anyone with concerns or information about high speed driving or cruiser events should call the Casualty Reduction Section on 101.
