Car cruising is blighting parts of Shropshire, says MP as he calls for tougher laws
Minister agrees to look at legislation
An MP has called for tougher laws on illegal ‘car cruising’, which he said is a ‘real blight’ on parts of Shropshire.
Mark Pritchard, MP for The Wrekin, said people in his constituency were suffering noise, intimidation and danger from illegal car meet-ups which were blighting the area.
Mr Pritchard told Home Office minister Sarah Jones that existing laws weren’t working during a debate in the House of Commons.
He asked if she could look at giving police new powers to tackle the problem.
He said: “Illegal car cruising is a real blight on communities, causing noise pollution and terrifying local communities, including pedestrians and legal road users alike, on private and public roads.
“Will the minister look again at the legislation to see whether this particular crime - it is a crime - can be penalised in a different way?
“At the moment, the generic legislation for anti-social behaviour is not catching enough people and is not a deterrent.”
Mrs Jones said she would look whether the Government’s new ‘respect orders’ - which came into force on Monday, could be used to tackle problems with car cruising.
The new orders aim to enable police and councils to take stronger enforcement action against relentless adult offenders of anti-social behaviour.
Courts can ban offenders from town centres or stop them drinking in public hotspots such as high streets and local parks.
They can also hand out unlimited fines and community punishments, including curfews or hours of volunteering.
Breach of the orders would be a criminal offence, punishable by up to two years in jail.
She said: “I am happy to look into whether respect orders might cover the crimes that the right honourable member talks about and help in this space.
“Of course we need to ensure that we have more police in our communities, and we will always look at the legislation to see whether there is more that we can do to come down hard on these kinds of behaviours, which make our constituents and our communities really not feel safe in their own environment. We will continue to work on that.”