Every year during London’s summer, the city is flooded by wealthy Middle Easterners with their custom luxury cars and supercars, aiming to escape the summer heat of their home countries.
While this results in automotive heaven for local petrolheads, many local residents have made their frustrations known throughout the years and, following the passing of new laws, they’re celebrating a victory over the so-called ‘millionaire boy racers’. Who, of course, are not just foreigners – it’s just that they are the ones been caught on camera more frequently.
The local council of Kensignton and Chelsea have just introduced a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in an attempt to dissuade exotic car owners from disrupting locals. Specifically, the PSPO means that local motorists can no longer rev their engines, race through the streets, accelerate rapidly, cause obstructions, sound their horns or perform ‘stunts’, presumably meaning burnouts. Additionally, they cannot leave the engine running of a stationary car.
If locals discover drivers doing any of these things, they can call a dedicated 24-hour number and report the drivers. Local police and council officers can then issue on-the-spot fines of up to 1,000 pounds.
As many of the motorists being targeted by the order are foreign residents, the council has the power to contact their local embassy to enforce the fines with the possibility of further action being taken with their local driving authorities.
Discussing the order, cabinet member for Environment, Cllr Tim Ahern, told the Daily Mail “I am sure local residents will welcome the introduction of the PSPO. We know they have suffered for some time with people racing around the streets, accelerating and breaking and congregating on certain streets to show off their cars. The new powers mean the council and police can do more if they catch drivers acting in an antisocial manner.”