Norwich council keen on noise cameras to tackle boy racers

Boy racers continue to cause anti-social disruption for people across the city, including in Magdalen Street, with the 20mph road becoming a hot spot for noisy speeding.

One local, John Gregory, said that despite a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) coming into force in the city last July, folk living in the area are sick of the issue.

He said: "People are still driving extremely high-powered vehicles, including high-end sports cars like Audis, BMWs or Mercedes, between the junction for Edward Street and Bull Close Road.

"The stretch is a nightmare - it is basically a drag strip.

"The noise is incredibly annoying and they sound like a swarm of angry wasps."

However, a new tool to help punish offenders could be on the way.

A national trial saw noise cameras installed at four sites including in Great Yarmouth and Norwich City Council has been tracking the outcome closely.

A spokesman for Norwich City Council has said that the city could soon have noise cameras installed (Image: Newsquest)

A spokesman said: "Norwich City Council works with the police in various ways to tackle the issue of nuisance behaviour associated with car meets and car cruises.

"Recently there has been a marked decrease in reports in Norwich of anti-social behaviour associated with car meets following the introduction of the Public Spaces Protection Order last year by the council.

"The issue of excessive vehicle noise from moving vehicles is harder for police to enforce.

"Following a recent national trial of acoustic cameras for vehicle noise, the Department for Transport is planning to issue guidance to local authorities for best practice and minimum requirements for the use of noise cameras.

"As soon as this guidance is available, we will meet with our partners including the police to discuss the best way to take this forward with the aim of reducing the noise pollution further across Norwich."

Noise cameras were installed in Great Yarmouth as part of a government trial (Image: Denise Bradley)

Noise cameras look similar to speed cameras, but are fitted with a microphone and automatic number plate recognition technology.

Mr Gregory's concerns are not only focused on the law-breaking speeds in Magdalen Street but also on dangerous driving.

He continued: "One of them totalled a large signpost when it mounted the kerb yards from my house a few months ago, which ended up completely flattened to the pavement.

"It was a good job nobody was walking past at the time."

Mr Gregory had been reporting the number plates of the drivers to the police a while ago but stopped as he felt his efforts were making little difference.

Magdalen Street is a hot spot for noisy vehicles (Image: Google)

A Norfolk police spokesman said: "‘We have not received any recent reports of anti-social vehicle use on Magdalen Street.  

"We work closely with residents and partners to address these types of concerns and in doing so have had positive outcomes in addressing anti-social vehicle use in a neighbouring part of the city.

"We encourage any incidents of this nature to be reported to us on 101 or via the Norfolk Police website."

A car speeding away from the Britannia Road car park in Norwich (Image: Andy Sharp)

The city council's hopes follow recent news that Broadland District Council and South Norfolk Council have also introduced a PSPO to combat the issue.

The authorities cover city areas with large car parks including Hellesdon, Sprowston and Costessey.

READ MORE: Thieves suspected of using stolen car to ram raid city shop

The PSPOs are in place at all times and give police the power to outlaw specific actions of anti-social behaviour which cause harassment, alarm or distress.

Police in Norwich could soon get more equipment to tackle anti-social driving problems in the city (Image: Norwich Police)

Sounding a car horn unnecessarily, playing excessively loud music, racing and performing stunts including doughnuts, skidding and handbrake turns are examples of behaviours covered.

Anyone who breaches a PSPO could be fined £100, rising to £1,000 if they fail to pay. 

The Labour-led city council's cabinet unanimously voted through its PSPO last July, with deputy leader Beth Jones saying: “We have had issues with the congregation of vehicles in a number of areas of the city for many years, causing noise, antisocial behaviour and to be frank significant safety concerns.

"Our residents have the right to live free from the intimidation and antisocial behaviour that too frequently accompanies these gatherings.”  

Deputy leader of Norwich City Council, Beth Jones (Image: Submitted)

Noise camera trials

A national trial of noise cameras took place between October 2022 and February 2023 in four locations around the country: Keighley in West Yorkshire, South Gloucestershire, Great Yarmouth and Rubery in Birmingham.

The sites were chosen as they were hot spots for excessively noisy vehicles.

Across the sites, an average of 18,125 vehicles passed by the noise cameras each day. 

Conservative MP Richard Holden, who was roads minister at the time, visited the Great Yarmouth noise camera trial in St Nicholas car park in South Beach Parade in December 2022 (Image: Denise Bradley/Newsquest)

The trial recorded 1,777 noise camera activations, but only 4pc of these were considered "excessively noisy", according to the results from the government trial.

The Department for Transport will issue guidance for local authorities about the next steps in managing noise management soon.