Warnings issued to drivers following Peterborough car meet

Police have issued official warnings to drivers who attended a planned car meet in Peterborough on Saturday.

From 5pm on Saturday (10 February) to 7am on Sunday (11 February), a dispersal order covering the whole of Cambridgeshire was put in place following information about a car meet planned to take place in Peterborough on Saturday evening.

The order was granted under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and allows police officers to direct a person to leave the area specified within the order if there are reasonable grounds to suspect their behaviour has contributed or is likely to contribute to members of the public feeling harassed, alarmed, or distressed, or the occurrence of crime or disorder.

Whilst carrying out patrols at the known hotspot locations for these meets, neighbourhood officers swiftly moved up to about 150 cars that had gathered in the Serpentine Green car park in Hampton.

Two section 59 warnings under the Police Reform Act 2002 were issued where vehicles were being used in a manner which caused alarm, distress, or annoyance. The notices are placed on both the driver and the vehicle, meaning should either be found to be involved in anti-social behaviour again, the vehicle can be seized.

Inspector Connor Hall, from Peterborough’s Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “Thanks to the information that we received, we were able to act quickly and get a county-wide dispersal order put in place.

“Car meets and the associated anti-social behaviour is an ongoing priority for our southern Peterborough Neighbourhood Policing Team and is something that we will continue to work at tackling.”

Anti-social driving can be reported to police via their web chat service or report online forms. Anyone without internet access should call 101.

If a crime is in action, or someone is in immediate danger, always dial 999.