UP TO 100 petrolheads holding car meets in Wokingham town centre late on Saturday night have brought motoring misery to residents.
And councillors say it took police three hours to arrive, sending just one vehicle before requesting back-up.
The drivers are alleged to have parked up, revved engines outside people’s houses and took over the Elms Road multi-storey car park, which is run by a private company.
Residents flocked to social media pages to complain about Saturday’s meet, pointing out that it’s not the first time this year that large numbers of motorists have done this.
Wokingham resident Pete Watson, whose name has been changed, told Wokingham.Today the noise from the motorists had continued for approximately an hour-and-a-half.
“It had taken my son an hour to get to sleep, my wife was ill, [and] the last thing we needed was this waking everyone up,” they said.
According to Mr Watson, car meets occur regularly in the town centre — day and night.
They fear it could be putting children at risk and urge the motorists to rent a spot out of town.
“I’m not sure why the meets need to happen in a town centre or residential areas,” they said.
“Revving engines outside people’s homes is completely unnecessary.
“Car owners [wishing] to show off can’t justifiably come at the cost of families trying to live and sleep in peace.”
Wescott ward councillor Maria Gee said she had been contacted by a number of scared residents angry that their Saturday night had been ruined by the noisy motorists.
“There were reports from residents of upwards of 100 cars at the meet, some queuing on Elms Road to enter the car park,” she said.
“Residents reported calling the police as soon as it was obvious this was going to be a major problem but police took a reported three hours to arrive and, even then, initially sent only one car.
“The police did manage to disperse the meet.
“The size of this meet is extremely worrying and residents are feeling anxious and scared, but also frustrated with the lack of action; one resident reported a meet there in June to the police, but no action seems to have been taken against the perpetrators.”
She said that it had taken almost a year for Wokingham Borough Council to install barriers and CCTV into the Carnival multi-storey car park, and called for NCP, which managed Elms Road car park, to do similar.
“I have also written to (Matthew Barber) the police and crime commissioner to ask him to work with senior officers to find out why the police response was so delayed and, initially, very limited,” she said.
“I appreciate that funding pressures on the police mean they must prioritise and juggle their resources, but the car meets are, in my opinion, a danger to the public, and require a swift police response.”
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for transport at the borough council said she has already spoken to Mr Barber and called for these issues to be a higher priority as part of his new plan for policing.
“I realise they have competing demands but anti-social behaviour like this needs to be countered by strong policing and I will be writing an open letter to the commissioner calling for more action,” she added.
READ MORE: Noisy car meets continue at Carnival say residents
Cllr Gee called on council leader John Halsall to do more.
“These car meets are advertised very widely, and drivers come from many miles away to attend. Unlike Cllr Halsall, residents do not believe that this behaviour is part of the ‘funny and rebellious’ nature of youth, as quoted in Wokingham Today, June 4.
“I do not believe either that car meets are ‘just’ antisocial behaviour; they are threatening to car park users and local residents, and are inevitably going to lead to injuries and, potentially, deaths to the attendees, other car park users, and pedestrians on surrounding roads. This is a matter of public safety.
“I have written to Cllr Halsall to explain the serious nature of car park meets, and I’ve asked him to condemn them. I’ve asked him to advise me of the actions he will be taking to work with council officers and police to stop the meets. Residents are demanding action, and so am I.”
Similar views were shared by Labour group leader Cllr Rachel Burgess, who lives in Norreys ward, said: “I heard the appalling noise on Saturday night, it made a significant impact on our evening.
“The disturbance was reported to police several times but each time we were told they would attend ‘once resources were available’.
“The fact is Thames Valley Police ran out of police on Saturday night and residents were left wondering if the rule of law still applied.
“The blame for lack of police lies with the Conservatives. They chose to cut police numbers. and Thames Valley Police has never recovered from the savage cuts inflicted on it.”
Cllr Halsall said that the racing was not easy for council officers to sort out, but urged residents to report problems.
“At the end of the day, the only people who can police are the police, we can support them,” he said. “We can do a myriad of things which make it more difficult, but public nuisance is a police matter.
“All we can do is make our car parks less accessible, which is what we will try and do.
“Residents should complain to us, and we should take it up with the police – that’s the right route. Alternatively, complain directly to the police.”
He added that the council had no jurisdiction on speeding in the borough, that was a police matter.
To report a crime, log on to https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/
