More than 80 drivers caught in Wednesbury race sting
More than 80 drivers will be sent warning letters by police after they were caught gathering for a race in Wednesbury, police have said.
Officers surprised the motorists who were gathering on Hallens Drive.
For the past few weeks up to 400 motorists have met on the road to race each other on Sunday evenings. Police launched a crackdown operation, and issued nearly a dozen tickets for traffic offences. The operation took place just days after a car crashed into a lamp-post close to Hallens Drive, at a car gathering.
A team of 15 officers lay in wait for the boy racers on Hallens Drive at around 9pm on Sunday.
Sandwell inspector Akeel Najib said: "We were acting on intelligence that a race meeting was going to take place. These motorists who come from all over the region arrange these meets via the social networking sites, and so we knew they were coming."
The officers brought with them automatic number plate recognition equipment and hand- held cameras. They then stopped each car as it pulled up to take part in Sunday's gathering.
Insp Najib said: "We arrived at around 9pm, and they started turning up at around 9.30pm, and so we stopped them as soon as they arrived.
"Obviously word soon got out that we were there, but we still managed to take the registration details of 80 vehicles."
The officers also examined each of the cars and booked motorists for offences including driving without insurance, not having car tax, and for faulty lights or illegal registration plates. In total 11 motorists were issued with tickets. Police will now be writing to 80 drivers warning them it is illegal to race on public roads.
On Thursday night, three women in their 20s escaped uninjured when the vehicle they were in crashed into a lamp-post at a car gathering on the same road.
