Kingsington and Chelsea residents have been plagued for years by people meeting up to rev their car engines and races
London’s most expensive borough has finally secured an injunction against car meet-ups that have been causing ‘nuisance’ and ‘danger’ to residential areas for years.
Kensington and Chelsea council secured a High Court injunction to crack down on late-night car meets with help from the Metropolitan Police and neighbouring Westminster council. This injunction means that drivers who gather between 6pm and 7am to race, rev their engines, perform stunts, or take part in other antisocial driving could be arrested or fined.
Cllr Johnny Thalassites, lead member for resident services, planning, and enforcement, said: “Car meets and street cruising are not just harmless fun. They bring noise, disruption and danger to residential areas and show a complete disregard for residents who should not have to put up with their roads being used as racetracks.
We reported back in 2022 about drivers having been spotted doing doughnuts around houses in the area.
“We pursued this injunction to give the police and council much stronger powers to act quickly and decisively, and the message for anyone coming to Kensington and Chelsea to race, rev engines or cause a nuisance is clear – we won’t tolerate it and you risk arrest, fines or even imprisonment.”
The injunction covers highways or areas within the wards of Hyde Park, St James’s, West End, Knightsbridge and Belgravia, the City of Westminster and the Brompton and Hans Town Ward in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
The injunction prohibits people from taking part in car meets involving dangerous or obstructive driving, as well as from attending the gatherings or from organising or promoting them.
If meet-ups still take place, the order gives police the opportunity to use CCTV, social media, or witness statements as evidence retrospectively where a breach has occurred.
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