Peterborough boy racers are ‘making residents’ lives hell,’ councillor says

Boy racers are making lives in Peterborough a misery, a Peterborough City Councillor has claimed.
Cllr Julie HowellCllr Julie Howell
Cllr Julie Howell

Orton Waterville cllr Julie Howell said residents were being kept up until the early hours of the morning by drivers racing on the Orton Parkway, and drifting - where drivers deliberately slide a car round a corner - on the Orton Southgate Industrial Estate.

Cambridgeshire police put a dispersal order in place on Saturday night to stop the anti-social driving - but cllr Howell, who represents the Green party, said the order had no impact, with the sound of tyres screeching and engines revving keeping families awake until 2.30am.

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She said: “It is just horrific. There has been drifting going on for a while, but the racing on the parkway is quite new.

A map of the area covered by the dispersal orderA map of the area covered by the dispersal order
A map of the area covered by the dispersal order

“The noise is prohibitively loud, and the smell of burning rubber is horrible.

“People living in the Ortons - Goldhay, Hinchcliffe, Brimbles are suffering. The houses are not as insulated against noise as some other places in this area of town. Everyone is affected.

“At some point there is going to be an accident. It could be because of the drifting or racing, or it could be someone driving to work the next day who has not had enough sleep.

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“The dispersal order has been used a couple of times in the past, and it has been successful, but this time it did not work.”

The dispersal order gave police the powers to move people on who are thought to be causing anti-social behaviour.

Cllr Howell said; “People are working incredibly hard to tackle it. We need the land owners to put physical barriers up to stop people drifting.

“The police are trying, but we need action. We need more enforcement - maybe a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO).”

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Cllr Howell has now set up an online petition calling for more action to be taken.

The petition reads: “We the undersigned petition Peterborough City Council to work with Cambridgeshire Police and relevant landowners to find a permanent solution to address the problem of illegal and dangerous street racing and drifting of cars on public and private streets, on industrial estates and business parks and in public and private car parks in Peterborough.

We refer in particular in Orton Southgate where residents have suffered years of disturbed sleep due to the noise generated by cars drifting in Orton Southgate Industrial Estate. Efforts by the police to curb this activity have been unsuccessful. We call on the council to introduce new measures (such as a Public Spaces Protection Order with consistent enforcement) and physical barriers to make the area unattractive to people who street race or drift cars and we call on the police to use all powers available to them to seize vehicles involved in these activities and to prosecute those who drive dangerously on our roads. We call on the council to work with the police to resolve these problems and make our roads safe again.”

Cambridgeshire police said the dispersal order would be put in place again this weekend.

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A spokesman said: “On Friday, June 14 we received numerous reports of anti social driving in the Orton Southgate area of Peterborough. As a result of these reports it was decided to impose a dispersal order in an effort to tackle the issue.

“Officers were also deployed to patrol the area for the time the order was in place.

“Another dispersal order will be in place this weekend as we continue to work to tackle the issue.

“The laws of the road are in place for the safety of motorists and pedestrians. Those who fail to adhere to these increase their chances of being involved in a serious collision potentially causing injury to themselves or other innocent people.”