Public outrage as small village TERRORISED by racing cars every weekend

A local councillor has spoken out after a small village has seen considerable disruption over the last couple of months from cars racing each other.

Councillor Alan Macro has given his view on what should be done after a group of cars have met up every weekend in Theale to race.

This disturbance has been ongoing since October or November of last year 2023 and the inhabitants of Theale are becoming increasingly annoyed.

Virtually every weekend this group of cars comes into the village late at night to race each other around roundabouts and corners.

"They race around various roads doing show off things for a crowd of spectators," Cllr Macro said. "Obviously this causes a lot of noise which is disturbing people's sleep.

"One lady said she needed to get up early the next morning but just couldn't sleep because it was so loud outside."

The people of Theale are also very concerned that the dangerous driving may result in a serious accident.

They feel that the drivers may lose control of their vehicles and go into the crowd of spectators.

The people who drive the cars are relatively unknown to the residents.

"It's happening virtually every week now," he said. "There was a lull over Christmas but now it's back to every week.

"Most of the time they are using the bypass and a road to a commercial estate which are both overlooked by flats."

Cllr Macro said he is currently liaising with police on what should be done about the situation and that they have come up with a few different ideas.

One was to change the layout of the road, but as heavy goods vehicles use them this proved to not be possible.

Cllr Macro is currently trying to find out if any of the local businesses around the area have CCTV footage of these cars racing.

A Thames Valley Police spokesperson said that their local neighbourhood teams are aware of the ongoing issue in relation to car meets and the select number of attendees that cause anti-social behaviour and noise nuisance to the local community.

They said that they are working with West Berkshire Council, the local parish council and other partners to tackle the issue and find a long term solution.

“We are also working in partnership with our Joint Operations Roads Policing Unit to respond to reported incidents.

“Our Roads Policing Unit have also been supporting the local response with targeted patrols and specialist units to proactively target offenders.

“We encourage residents to continue to report incidents to TVP through 101 or using the TVP online reporting tool."

They have also warned that any drivers found to be using a vehicle in a manner which is causing, or is likely to cause, alarm, distress or annoyance to members of the public will be issued with a Section 59 Police Reform Act Warning, which can lead to their vehicle being seized, and premises can be issued a Community Protection Notice in line with the Anti-Social Crime and Police Act 2014.