There are fears someone could be seriously injured by ‘boy racers’ who have started using a Nottingham park and ride site.
Concerns have been raised that Toton Park and Ride is becoming a popular attraction for young people to drive their cars around dangerously late at night.
A resident has now called on the tram operator, NET, which manages the park and ride, to ensure action is taken to prevent further car meets.
Councillors are set to discuss a report prepared for a meeting at Nottingham City Council’s headquarters, Loxley House, on Tuesday, July 12.
An unnamed member of the public, who lives close to Toton Lane Park and Ride site, has contacted the committee because he is “dissatisfied” with the response that he has received from NET so far.
The report states: “He has reported incidents on several occasions to Nottingham Trams and the police over the last 12 months, requesting that action is taken to deter the activities from taking place, providing pictures, and listing the number plates of the cars that have allegedly been offending. He has requested that a dispersal order is put in place.”
The resident has written a number of emails to NET, which makes up part of the report, which will be discussed on July 12.
The resident states: “I’m writing this email after another eventful night of dangerous anti-social driving behaviour by cars and motorbikes.
“I also witnessed some drug dealing taking place one evening last week by a male on a unlicensed motor bike. They are also using Stapleford Lane and Toton Lane for drag racing.
“The same vehicles with the same drivers are repeatedly there evening after evening and I have months’ worth of incident numbers that have been reported to the police.
“On average there is around eight to 10 cars per evening either speeding around the tram terminal or up and down Toton and Stapleford Lane.
“I have given the police all the licence plate numbers several times over several months. I cannot emphasise this enough there will be a serious accident or worse, unfortunately probably some innocent member of the public using the area, and this will all come out in that process.”
NET has responded to their concerns stating they have worked with Nottinghamshire Police and reviewed the CCTV available.
They said police have also carried out regular patrols in the area and engaged with some of the local car enthusiasts.
Andy Holdstock, for the NET Project at Nottingham City Council, said: “The police have not had cause to issue any warnings or penalty fines during these patrols and the CCTV available to Nottingham Trams does not show the extent of the allegations and reports made by the member of the public.
“As the complaints received by the tram operator have been post-incident, it has not been possible to capture live CCTV pictures of incidents occurring. In the absence of any clear evidence of wrongdoing, it has not been possible to progress a dispersal order for the area.”
NET said in the last 12 months there has been a small number of reports about anti-social behaviour and dangerous driving at the site, three of them from the complainant.
Mr Holdstock said NET held a meeting with the concerned resident on May 30, which was also attended by the police.
He added: “It was agreed that further monitoring of the area would take place. Some minor adjustments have been made to the CCTV cameras at the site, to better capture the affected areas, and regular checks have been carried out by the control room to try and detect any unusual activity.
“It has been requested that any further reports are made in the first instance to the police, who will then contact NET to review CCTV. A further meeting was due to be held with the complainant on July 4, to review the ongoing situation.”
The report will be discussed by the Greater Nottingham Light Rapid Transit Advisory Committee on Tuesday, July 12.
