Police seek council's help over Wednesbury boy racers

Officers want to discuss plans with Sandwell Council to change the layout of a road to deal with the problem.

For years residents who live close to Hallens Drive in Wednesbury have had to put up with hundreds of young drivers arriving late at night to race around the streets.

It comes after officers caught around 80 motorists arriving on Hallens Drive for what was believed to be a race meeting on Sunday night.

Inspector Akeel Najib, who led the operation, said they will continue to crack down on the boy racers in the coming weeks.

He said: "We will be looking to the longer term, to see how we can tackle this problem. This has been an ongoing issue and I am arranging a meeting with the council to see what we can do." He said it was hoped the layout of the road could be changed, to stop it being an attractive place to race.

"We want to look at ways we can deter these motorists from coming down here," he said. "One of the ways is this ongoing action against them. Another will be looking at the layout of the road."

However, Wednesbury North councillor Elaine Costigan said that changing the road layout would not make any difference, and instead called for consistent high-visibility policing at sites where motorists gather.

She said: "This is something that has been ongoing for a number of years, and the residents have been concerned about it for a long time. We have had repeated discussions with the police and have looked at the road on a number of occasions. There is nothing wrong with the road."