We'll stop these crazy 'cruisers'

Young drivers, who are meeting in large groups on private car parks and regularly breaking traffic laws by performing stunts like high-speed hand-brake turns, will have to pay hundreds of pounds to get their vehicles back.

Cruisers' often spend thousands of pounds on their vehicles by tuning the engines and fitting expensive alloy wheels, body kits and high-powered beat box' sound systems.

Inspector Kash Singh, of the Bradford Neighbourhood Policing Unit, who is leading the operation, codenamed Wrench, said officers had been instructed to use their powers under the Police Reform Act 2002 to confiscate vehicles whose drivers were causing a nuisance.

He said: "We will not tolerate anti-social behaviour and the flouting of road traffic laws. We will hit them in the pockets because that is where it hurts them most."

The police operation follows disturbances at a meeting organised by Bradford Cruise.com on August Bank Holiday Monday when a police officer was injured by a brick thrown by a mob which had gathered at Morrisons supermarket car park in Girlington.

Police went there after they received complaints from people living nearby about the manner in which cars were being driven around the car park.

Insp Singh said: "When large numbers of people meet and get over-excited it is far too easy for things to escalate.

"There were more than 100 cars congregating in the Morrisons car park and large crowds of people spectating.

"The drivers were performing what they call doughnuts' by doing handbrake turns in a private car park, late at night and in a very large group.

"My first concern is for the residents and business community in that area and I will not allow them to be intimidated in this way."

Insp Singh confirmed an officer was injured when bricks were thrown from the crowd.

Last Monday night police, supported by colleagues in riot gear, cordoned off Morrisons car park to prevent another gathering of cruisers' taking place.

Insp Singh said: "Operation Wrench was set up to ensure that the race meet was disrupted and that our officers were protected should the need arise.

"It was a low-key operation and a great success. The drivers were refused access to the car park and none of the additional officers was required."

A Morrisons spokesman said: "Working closely with the police, we have taken a number of positive steps to stop any illegal activity at our Victoria store car park. This includes making sure that the car park is inaccessible when the store is closed."

Insp Singh said they would continue to crack down on drivers who flouted the law.

"In the wrong hands a car is a lethal weapon," he said.

"These drivers are not only putting their own lives at risk but also those of other innocent road users."

He said officers were prepared to work with the cruisers' to tackle the problem.

He said: "If we can look at an arrangement that reduces risks to members of the public I am happy to meet the organisers.

"They have to take some responsibility for what happens at their meets."

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How the boy racers left me frightened and intimidated

Dusk was just beginning to fall when I pulled into Morrisons car park in Ingleby Road, Girlington, Bradford.

I wasn't there to grab a few groceries but to join police officers determined to rid the streets of the menace of cruisers' in souped-up cars who put at risk not only their own but also the lives of other road users and pedestrians.

The mood was ominous. The aim of Operation Wrench is to stamp out anti-social behaviour and disrupt illegal race meets and I was invited along to see at first hand the sort of problems traffic officers are faced with on a daily basis.

It didn't take long for the cruisers - a description they use themselves - to arrive.

Mainly young males - with a smattering of girls - they roared up to the car park, sporting large exhausts making thunderous noises, special alloy wheels, blacked-out windows and beat boxes pumping out music with an ear-bending bass line.

They arrived in convoys of six to eight vehicles, looking forward to an evening of daredevil stunts such as handbrake turns and "doughnuts" - where they hold the car in a tight spin and burn circles of tyre rubber into the tarmac, creating clouds of fumes as they go.

But not that night.

There was an air of confusion initially when they realised their meet would not take place because the car park was closed.

Desperate to find another location, away from they eyes of the law, cars sped up and down Ingleby Road at eyewatering speeds which, at a guess, were more than double the 30mph speed limit.

Police cars were circling the area but maintained an extremely low-key presence.

I decided to follow one convoy of eight cars to see exactly how they were driving on our roads.

Terrifying, is the only way I can describe the experience.

I became jammed in between the convoy and at no time was the car behind me more than a foot away from my bumper.

It was as if they were trying to push me off the road for driving at the right speed and it was very frightening and intimidating.

Many of them drove too quickly, four cars behind me skipped red lights to stay in convoy and at one point one of them stopped the car in the middle of the road to talk to the drivers behind him, blocking traffic.

There was a feeling of excitement amongst the cruisers which seemed to intensify the worse their driving became.

Unable to keep up I eventually lost the cruisers - or they did they lose me?

But there was an air of defeatism as they failed to find a suitable spot in which to congregate.

This time it was a victory for the police - but where will the cruisers be tonight?

JENNIFER SUGDEN

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