Police 'unable' to attend car meet despite call

One business said that cars skidding round a ring of fire on Saturday has left the car parks and access roads damaged, with waste tyres and rubbish left behind

Police have said they were not able to attend an illegal ring-of-fire car meet on Saturday despite receiving a call from a member of the public.

Business owners on an industrial estate Flitwick, Bedfordshire have again said they feel "let down" by police over their response.

Bedfordshire Police said it received one call from the public about the car meet at Lyall Court and "due to available resources did not send officers on this occasion".

In a statement the force added "even if we're not able to attend the incident immediately, we work to collect evidence to identify those involved".

One business on the site said they had been "experiencing dangerous and illegal car meets over the last few years, which have intensified over the last 18 months".

They believed the next meet might be very soon and they were worried about damage to the buildings.

The firm said its premises had suffered numerous broken windows over the years caused by stones being flicked up by tyres.

They were surprised no-one has been seriously hurt and ultimately "feel let down that nothing has been done about this".

The chairman of the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Panel, Gareth Mackey, said it "was unacceptable" and "police need to take this more seriously".

Gareth Mackey said the illegal car meets were "ongoing" and "we don't seem to be able to stop this"

Mackey, a Central Bedfordshire councillor for Flitwick, said he could "hear all the cars racing through the town at night from my bedroom".

"I am genuinely fearful of someone taking the law into their own hands and getting into trouble," he said.

"I know the constraints the police are under but something needs to happen and it needs to be stopped."

Bedfordshire Police said "the intelligence [from the illegal car meet on Saturday] has been shared with the Central community team who are doing ongoing work to identify and disrupt this kind of anti-social behaviour".

The force added that it could "use a range of powers during and after incidents such as Section 59 warnings and Community Protection Notice Warnings, which can escalate to vehicle seizure and prosecution for repeat offences".