Berkshire car cruisers assault residents claims MP

The large carpark at the Sainsbury's in Bracknell, scene of last weekend's car meet

Sainsbury's is being urged to shut its car parks at night after car cruisers were accused of assaulting residents living nearby.

Berkshire MP James Sunderland said a "big car meet" at the Bracknell supermarket caused a "huge noise" last weekend.

He told the House of Commons the anti-social behaviour resulted in local residents "being assaulted".

Sainsbury's said safety was its "highest priority".

Mr Sunderland, the Conservative MP for Bracknell, said police needed stronger powers to deal with anti-social behaviour.

'Spinning cars, doughnuts'

He said: "We have a lot of it in Bracknell, and across the wider constituency and across the UK.

"Anti-social driving is another feature locally. On Saturday evening at Birch Hill Sainsbury's in Bracknell we had a big car meet.

"We had people spinning cars, doughnuts, tyre smoke, huge noise. It got to the point where residents were being assaulted. This cannot happen.

"I'd urge first of all Sainsbury's to lock their car parks at night if the shops aren't open. What an easy way of dealing with it."

Mr Sunderland is due to meet with Sainsbury's to discuss the issue later.

A spokeswoman for the supermarket said: "Safety is our highest priority and we are working with the local authorities to address these concerns."

Thames Valley Police said: "Our 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.

"We are working with local businesses and the council to tackle the issue and will attend these types of incidents when we are able to."