Car cruisers in Castle Donington will face fines and their meets will be shut down by officials after new measures to tackle the issue were approved by North West Leicestershire District Council.

The cruises have been a problem since the village's relief road opened in 2020, a report submitted ahead of this week's council cabinet meeting stated.

There have been "regular" large car meets in the area over the period, which are typically organised in advance and advertised on social media, the documents added.

This year alone, there have been "almost weekly" reports of races in the village with "anywhere between 10 and 100 vehicles" taking part and "around double" the number of spectators.

At the cabinet meeting on Tuesday in Coalville, councillors unanimously approved, after just two minutes of discussion, a new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to tackle the cruises.

This gives council officers and the police the power to shut down the meets and issue sanctions, including fines, to anyone taking part in, allowing their vehicle to be used in, or watching them.

A PSPO related to the meets had previously been in effect in the area, but this expired earlier this year. Where the previous restrictions only applied to specific areas of Castle Donington, the newly granted PSPO will apply to the whole village. It came into effect immediately.

Deputy chairman of the meeting Cllr Michael Wyatt told delegates: "The issue has continued to affect this area of Castle Donington [covered by the original PSPO] and has moved more widely into the whole of the village, affecting the quality of life for local residents.

"With this in mind, a new order now needs to be put in place to enable the police and council to take appropriate action."

He added that a consultation with local residents had revealed "widespread support" for the new PSPO.

Councillor for Castle Donington, Tony Saffell, said: "As a resident of Castle Donington, it has been a huge problem over the last few years, but the police are clamping down on it and the order appeared to be working.

"Things are improving, but spreading [the order] to the whole of the rest of the village will only help as [the cruises] had started to scatter a bit. So this will tighten it up."

The report also stated that the meets resulted in " dangerous driving" on local roads, which caused "risks to other road users". They also create "noise disturbances" for residents "from engines and music", and lead to littering, broken street furniture and public roads being blocked.