Police put the brakes on city centre racers

Following last week's report in the Star in which SDLP Vice Chair Aisling Twomey expressed concern about the speed of cars around the city centre, Chief Inspector Jones confirmed they had received reports of incidents and were taking action on the matter.

Ms Twomey said young drivers were using the one way system around the city centre along Bachelors Walk, Railway Street, Market Street, Smithfield and Bow Street to race each other at night.

"There have been a number of reports in relation to so-called boy racers," said Chief Inspector Jones.

"The local neighbourhood policing team is working in partnership with a number of other agencies, including Roads Service, to address this.

"It is a problem for many areas across the Province and it is something we are dealing with. The Speed Indication Device (SID) has been deployed in the Bachelors Walk area as a preventative measure."

Mr Jones also encouraged local people to contact the police if they saw this activity taking place in the city. "I would encourage people to report any dangerous or careless driving to the police," he said.

Lisburn Councillor Matthew McDermott has pledged to raise the issue of the city centre 'boy racers' at the next meeting of Lisburn District Policing Partnership.

"This seems to be a very worrying trend and has significant safety implications for other motorists and pedestrians," said Mr McDermott.

"Road Safety and reducing the number of crashes and fatalities should be a key priority for the police in Lisburn and I will be raising this particular issue at the next District Policing Partnership meeting."