A HUCKNALL councillor has called for an injunction covering the whole of Nottinghamshire to crack down on car cruisers.
Motorists have again been congregating at junction 27 of the M1 at Annesley to show off ‘souped-up’ vehicles, Hucknall Partnership Group was told this week.
Nearby residents have complained that the cruisers cause noise nuisance and endanger themselves and other drivers by gathering and racing around.
Coun Mick Murphy, a Hucknall Conservative member of Notts County Council, said large groups of cruisers had previously targeted junction 27 and Hucknall bypass, mainly on Sunday nights.
Since then, he added, they had moved around Nottinghamshire to areas which included Netherfield, Colwick and Chilwell.
Coun Murphy, who is chairman of the county’s community safety committee, added: “We are trying to say to a judge that we are chasing these guys round the county. A countywide injunction is needed to stop them in their tracks.”
Ashfield South police commander Insp Nick Butler confirmed that ‘pockets’ of car cruising had emerged across Nottinghamshire with ‘screeches of tyres and noise from car exhausts’.
He told the meeting that 30 or 40 vehicles had converged on junction 27 one weekend recently.
Insp Butler said an injunction covering this site was no longer in operation but the police were using other ‘tools’ to combat the problem.
These included making junction 27 an anti-social behaviour dispersal zone and using automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) equipment.
He pointed out that some cruisers modified their cars to make them more powerful without notifying their insurance company.
“We have to take people’s rights into account but the activities of these cruisers cannot be tolerated,” said Insp Butler.
He added that lay-bys where cruisers assembled were meant for lorry drivers to have necessary rest and comfort breaks.
A woman at the meeting said she had been unable to sleep one Sunday night because of noise made by cruisers.
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