By Tess Rushin

Dozens of cars took part in reported car cruising on the A453 north of Ashby at the weekend – although the numbers were far less than police had anticipated.

Reports of the racing were made to officers yesterday (Sunday, February 9) – just days after police said they were undertaking "targeted operations" to combat the issue.

The racing was spotted on the A453 at Castle Donington, with officers saying that "between 40 and 50 vehicles" were involved.

However, that is far fewer than the planned cruise of "500 plus cars" according to officers from Hinckley Police's Facebook page who had expected such a meet in the Hinckley, Blaby and neighbouring Markfield area.

Reports of the cars involved come just days after Neighbourhood Policing Area Commander for Hinckley and Blaby,

Inspector Mat Allingham, said the force was taking on "targeted" work to reduce street racing in the wider area. He had previously called the issue "extremely dangerous" for other road users.

In a post on Sunday (February 9), Hinckley Police spoke out over the A453 race. It said: "Well last night, the residents of Blaby, Hinckley, and Markfield should have had a nice peaceful night, despite a planned cruise of 500 plus cars. OpFlux [an operation aimed at tackling road safety issues within localised areas] were activated, and we successfully deterred them coming on our local area, although did attend North Leicestershire to fend them off."

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Earlier this month, Inspector Allingham warned drivers involved in the illegal meets and racing would face action from officers, including the potential seizing of vehicles.

The A453 incident comes despite the issue of street racing seeing a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in place for Castle Donington. The PSPO aims to deal with a problem in a particular area that is having a detrimental effect on the quality of life for those in the local community.

A spokesperson for Leicestershire Police said: "Just after 12.50am yesterday, (Sunday, February 9), a member of the public reported cars racing on the A453 at Castle Donington. The person who reported the incident stated there were between 40 and 50 vehicles involved.

"However, no vehicles were located when officers arrived in the area. Further enquiries are being undertaken by officers from the North West Leicestershire Neighbourhood Policing Area (NPA) today (Monday, February 10)."