Revving engines could be heard up to a mile and half away as ‘dozens’ gathered at a car meet seemingly to watch risky stunts on Saturday (September 29).
A video, reportedly taken at the meeting and seen by Get West London , seems to show sparks under a spinning car with no protective border between the vehicle and crowd at Hayes Bridge Retail Park .
One resident, who did not want to be named, said she could hear loud music and engines between 8pm and 10pm and Uxbridge Road is used “as a racecourse” for cars with no number plates.
“It just causes such a disturbance, there are houses opposite but I could hear it from where I live a mile and a half away,” she said, claiming this isn’t the first time Hayes has had these issues.
“There are tyre marks all over the car park, it will cost a lot of money to get that fixed.
“They are coming out of that meet with no number plates and had lights off and then they used Uxbridge Road and Hayes Bypass as a racecourse.”
The gathering outside Currys PC World was organised and promoted on Facebook by group Ghetto Street Meet – with another pencilled in for a 'Bonfire/Diwali/Halloween night special’.
The location for that event on November 3 is not clear but Hayes has had trouble with car meets before.
In June this year, an Asda car park filled with smoke as a car performed a dangerous stunt drifting between pillars – a video of which went viral.
“I was once with my daughter driving one night, I was at the roundabout on Hayes Bypass when three black cars without their lights on and no number plates rushed out,” she said.
“They came out so quickly.”
She told Get West London the site managers had set up gates at the car park entrance to keep out risk-taking drivers – but she says they are not locked after hours.
Police are also too stretched to deal with these large-scale disturbances, she says, with Hillingdon, Hounslow and Ealing sharing limited resources.
Hillingdon Council said: “The Metropolitan Police is responsible for enforcing the laws relating to anti social driving in public places, and the council has recently introduced a new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) that provides police officers with extra powers to tackle the issue.
"Seven wards in Hillingdon have been identified as restricted areas, with offences including racing, large car gatherings, performing stunts and noise nuisance.
“Police and council officers now have the power to enforce a fixed penalty notice for such offences, and failure to comply could result in a court appearance and a fine of up to £1,000."
The seven wards include Botwell, Pinkwell, Uxbridge South, West Ruislip, Townfield, Yiewsley and Yeading.
Police confirmed they received a report shortly after 9.30pm on Saturday of a large group of vehicles congregated in a car park off Uxbridge Road.
No arrests were made.
A spokesperson for Savills, the company managing the site, said: "As the managing agent at Hayes Bridge Retail Park in Uxbridge, Savills can confirm that police attended the scene on September 29 due to vehicles misusing the car park.
"These vehicles entered before the gates were locked. The gates continue to be locked every night and we are working with the police on an ongoing basis as well as reviewing additional measures to prevent misuse of the car park."
