A DRIVER who made two high-speed handbrake turns at a late-night car meet has been fined £100.
Thames Valley Police and members of Wokingham Borough Council’s anti-social behaviour team team attended the event held on Saturday, May 20, at Thames Valley Park and Ride, off London Road.
The two authorities had visited the site to ensure new rules were being followed.
“Within half an hour, a driver was seen entering and performing at least two handbrake turns at high speed,” a council spokesperson said. “She was given a verbal warning and a £100 penalty.”
The news comes as the council has issued a warning to drivers planning on attending the car meets – its new rules are designed to clampdown on dangerous and anti-social driving.
It includes a ban on making noise by revving engines, sounding horns or playing loud music, as well as “aggressive” accelerating or braking, causing an obstruction or racing against other vehicles.
The rules cover manoeuvres such as skidding, drifting and handbrake turns, using threatening or abusive language and behaviour, and organising or attending events where any of these things happen.
The Public Spaces Protection Order is in force for any car park owned by the council, and any publicly accessible land within Wokingham borough. Signs are up where the order is in force, and the rules can be enforced by police and council officers.
Drivers can be fined up to £100 on the spot, or £1,000 in court.
Wokingham Borough Council and Thames Valley Police say they will continue patrols throughout the summer.
Cllr Ian Shenton, Wokingham Borough Council’s executive member for environment, sport and leisure, said: “Summer might just be starting, but we’ve hit the ground running and are determined to crack down on nuisance driving. We know it bothers people and we’ve listened to their feedback.
“This reckless and irresponsible behaviour puts bystanders’ lives at risk and unfairly disturbs neighbours, sometimes for miles around, and we will not tolerate it.”
Residents have long complained about the car meets – and protested against them at Carnival car park on Wellington Road in January last year.
At the time, Wokingham Town Council Cllr Maria Gee said the noise had caused children to hide under their beds, after ‘sounding like gunshots’.
Wokingham Borough Council said it received 82 complaints about car meets in 2021.
A public consultation by Wokingham Borough Council on the proposed PSPO, carried out between June and July of last year, revealed that 75% of respondents were in favour of implementing it.
