Blitz boy racers with targeted campaign

Claims have been made that Welshpool’s one-way system is being used as a race track at night, leading to calls for a targeted campaign to combat the boy racers.

The town council has agreed write to the police and county council to adopt a joint approach after one councillor revealed that cars have been witnessed racing against the clock through the town, starting and finishing at Berriew Street Car Park.

The astonishing claim made by Cllr Phil Pritchard at the Services and Property Committee led to the Town Mayor, Cllr Alison Davies, proposing the blitz and calling for the enforcement of noise and speeding laws.

“Everything that surrounds Berriew Street Car Park is sheltered housing for a lot of elderly people,” said Cllr Pritchard. “And yet those boy racers are allowed to congregate there, and they haven’t paid a fee to be there, and we have actually watched them – and complained to the police on 999 – where they are starting each other with a stop watch and off they go out of the car park and back again to see who is the fastest.”

Committee Chair, Cllr Nick Howells, added: “And unfortunately it has been going on for years too.”

Cllr Davies pointed out that the term ‘boy racers’ wasn’t appropriate as “many of them are grown men” and that there were also females taking part. She also said that many of the cars had been tweaked to increase their noise and “we get constant complaints from residents”.

The Welsh Government is expected to introduce 20mph speed limits for town centres next year, but Cllr Estelle Bleivas, who said the problem exists on Salop Road too, doesn’t hold out much hope.

“I think we are living in cloud cuckoo land if we ever think that we are going to get a 20mph speed limit,” she said. “Who is going to enforce it? It’s rubbish. There is no one to enforce it.”

Cllr Davies wrapped up the lengthy discussion by proposing: “We work with Powys County Council and the Police to address the speeding, the noise of the vehicles, the bad drivers and racers and we ask for a targeted approach over an agreed period of time.”

The proposal was backed unanimously by fellow councillors.

PICTURE (by Owain Betts): Not boy racers, but a part of the one-way system that is claimed to be used as a race track...