Drug-driver arrested and vehicles seized during swoop on Northamptonshire street race

Police pick up more than 200 offences after spotting cars drifting at A5 roundabouts
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Police have revealed the full list of offences racked up by drivers during Saturday night's swoop on an illegal street racing meet in Northamptonshire.

Officers shut down the event after vehicles were seen drifting at roundabouts on the A5 near Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal.

Many of the drivers had travelled from outside the county.

Police tackled 162 drivers during Saturday night's crackdown near DaventryPolice tackled 162 drivers during Saturday night's crackdown near Daventry
Police tackled 162 drivers during Saturday night's crackdown near Daventry
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■ 162 drivers were issued with Section 59 warning notices for anti-social driving.

■ Seven drivers were also given fixed penalty notices for defective tyres after burning rubber down to the cord.

■ Two had more than one illegal tyre and had to arrange to be towed home.

■ 12 drivers were issued with a fixed penalty notice for number plate offences — including some for not having plates on their vehicles.

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■ 15 vehicles were flagged for attending car cruise events outside of the county within the last year.

■ One driver's vehicle was seized just four days after they received a Section 59 notice at another car meet in the county.

­■ Another vehicle was seized after being driven by a provisional licence holder.

■ A 26-year-old man from Birmingham was arrested on suspicion of drug-driving. He was released pending results of a blood test — and also reported for dangerous driving and failing to stop.

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Section 59 warnings are placed against both drivers and vehicles and last for 12 months — if either is then seen driving in similar conditions again the vehicle can be seized and sold on or crushed, if not collected after paying for recovery and storage costs.

These warnings do not carry financial penalties in the first instance — but can go alongside fines for other offences.

Meets near the DIRFT site have caused problems before and officers reactivated Operation Larder — originally launched in January 2015 — to shut down the weekend’s pop-up meet.

PC Dave Lee, of Northamptonshire Police's safer roads team, said: “Many of these people had travelled from outside the county to attend this event either to participate in racing or as a spectator.

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“Our message to those travelling to our county with the hope of seeing or taking part in illegal racing or drifting couldn’t be more clear: It will be a wasted trip!

"We will shut down any attempt at holding such activities.

“These unauthorised events on public roads aren’t just illegal, they can be unsafe and put participants and spectators, as well as other road users, at significant risk of collisions and serious injury.

“Working with our Northamptonshire Safer Roads Alliance partners, reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on our county roads remains our priority.

“We will continue to work with all our partners and policing colleagues from other forces to tackle such unauthorised events as well as dangerous driving and anti-social driving as we know the risks they pose and the harm they can cause.”