Hope for residents suffering with car cruise misery as anti-drifting bumps removed by vandals replaced

Tyre marks left in the car park at Stapledon Road, Orton Southgate.

Residents in Orton Southgate have been given fresh hope that an end to their heel at the hands of anti-social car drifting events could be coming to an end.

This week, more robust speed bumps have been installed at car cruise hotspot Stapledon Road. Anti-drifting bumps, that cost £50,000 were first put in last month but were ripped up after just one week by car cruisers.

Speed bumps at Stapledon Road, Orton Southgate.

Ward councillor Julie Stevenson, alongside Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Christian Hogg, both part of Peterborough City Council’s task and finish group on the issue across the city, also met with Super Intendant Neil Billany of Cambridgeshire Police to discuss the response of the police and council; with a solution now thought to be “closer than is has ever been.”

The bumps were one of a series of measures proposed by the task and finish group to improve both the lives of residents, in the nearby homes, subjected to lack of sleep due to all of the noise from squealing tyres and popping exhausts late into the night and businesses owners, who have regularly seen their premises damaged as a result of the activity.

Such damage once occurred again on Saturday (July 24) night, before the bumps were reinstalled, as large black tyre marks were left across the site and with many residents kept awake on the noise.

The following Monday (July 25), Cllrs Stevenson and Hogg met with police and Cllr Stevenson, who has been pushing for a resolution to the issue for the last six year, left that meeting with renewed confidence that a resolution can be found.

She said: “I left the meeting feeling optimistic, the issue is not just going to go away quickly but we are closer than we have ever been. Super Intendant Billany had some positive solutions from when he has dealt with this issue in other areas of the country he has worked.

"No single agency can solve this problem, we need to find a way for the council and the police to work together productively and I would say the meeting showed that we are all of one mind.

"We all want the same thing. For me, it is heartbreaking to hear about people getting injured, it’s always the spectators but also the residents that are struggling to sleep, which can cause serious health problems and also those that work on the 24/7 site, they don’t go to work to put up with that or have to see accidents like that

"I’m open to finding a new location for this to take place, things would not be so bad if the people doing this took a bit of responsibility but that has not happened so far."

The group looking into city-wide issues to the problem of anti-social car drifting is expected to release its full report in the coming weeks.

Details about the interim report can be found here: