Cameras planned for 'boy racers' paradise' near Mansfield

The Nottingham Road retail park in Somercotes – home to The Range, Aldi and Greggs – has been the unofficial regular host of dozens of cars said to be causing disturbance by performing mini races, burnouts and doughnuts.

Now signs have been erected at the site saying motorists cannot enter between 10.30pm and 5am, warning there will be a £100 for vehicles caught breaching this.

Cameras are also to be installed on the site, but this has not yet taken place, say residents and councillors.

One local resident, who declined to be named, said: “Signs have gone up to let motorists know that private ANPR cameras are in use. The actual cameras haven’t been installed yet but hopefully they will be soon.

“It’s a welcome step to be honest. To date, nothing else has been done to address the problem during the last two years.

“Time will tell what impact it will actually have on helping to stop the speeding and anti social car behaviour which is rife around here at the moment.

“I think this is the first step and other safety measures and deterrents are needed in the future such as speed cameras on the main road and speed bumps in the car park, but it is a good start nonetheless.”

The resident previously said the site was a “boy racer’s paradise”.

He had said: “The racers bomb down Nottingham Road at break-neck speed and then nail it into the car park doing doughnuts and revving. It sounds like fireworks going off.”

‘We hope it will stop’

Coun John McCabe, who represents the area on Amber Valley Council, said hard work from councillors and authority staff had helped lead to the potential solutions.

He said: “We hope it will stop. We hope it alleviates the situation and that they don’t just go elsewhere.

“It is also a walkthrough for people going to and from shifts and my concern was that there could have been an accident.”

He previously said: “They are driving around doing races and turn it into a bit of a track. They are running riot.”

Images of previous vehicle gatherings at the site showed scores of cars at the retail park, with people gathering in groups with no face coverings and no social distancing – while restrictions were in place.

Further images of the aftermath of meets on the site show extensive tyre marks left by the vehicles performing doughnuts.

Knight Frank, representing site owner Peveril Securities, said: “An ANPR system has been installed to record the registration numbers of vehicles entering and departing the site, with restrictions in place for out of hours access.

“If an unauthorised vehicle accesses the car park out of hours, they will receive a penalty charge notice.”

Support your Chad by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user-experience. Click here to subscribe.