Illegal Bulwell car meet broken up after police engage with drivers

Officers from the Bulwell neighbourhood policing team were made aware of a car meet taking place on July 10 in Blenheim Industrial Estate in the town where a dispersal order was in place to stop issues being caused.

Around 20 cars had gathered for the meeting but after speaking with officers, and being given advice on why they couldn’t park up on the estate, the drivers all left without any issues.

Bulwell Sergeant Mark Marriott said: “We understand people’s passion and desire for wanting to meet, admire each other’s vehicles and come together.

“But we cannot, and won’t ever condone, anti-social behaviour and people causing misery for local residents and putting other road users’ safety at risk.

“We received reports from numerous people over the weekend so took positive action in dispersing those in the area.

“The people at the car meet on Sunday engaged with us and were understanding of the dispersal order we had in place and after speaking with them and explaining why they couldn’t be there they left without any trouble.

“Anti-social behaviour can have a large impact on communities but it’s not always about arresting people.

"It’s about engaging with them, educating them and simply just having a chat so they can understand the public's concerns and why we take the actions we do.

“We will always take action if gatherings are unsafe for participants and the wider public and those driving antisocially may find themselves prosecuted and having their cars seized.

“I want to reassure the public that we take any reports of anti-social behaviour extremely seriously whether that’s loud noise, driving at speed in built-up areas or causing issues for local residents – operations like this will continue and we are working with our partners to make sure the community of Bulwell is kept safe.”

Dispersal order powers can and will be used against those that gather and act anti-socially at hotspots across the county.

The orders allow officers to order people from an area without having to arrest them – allowing them to break up gatherings quickly and take enforcement action in response to anti-social behaviour.