POLICE have cracked down on the menace of boy racers who plague Ipswich town centre.They congregate in often heavily-modified cars outside warehouses in Commercial Road.

POLICE have cracked down on the menace of boy racers who plague Ipswich town centre.

They congregate in often heavily-modified cars outside warehouses in Commercial Road.

From there they chase each other at high-speed around the one-way streets past Fitness First, Cardinal Park and the Royal Mail sorting office.

The police assignment, which involved weeks of planning, was launched after officers received hundreds of complaints from members of the public and businesses.

Operation Klatch involved two police motorcyclists pulling the culprits over into a police base, set up in the car park of Fitness First, where they underwent thorough checks by four examiners from the Vehicle Inspectorate.

Although the main problem involving the boy-racers is the erratic manner in which many drive, police hoped the vehicle checks would deter the gatherings and rally driving that take place almost every evening.

The operation led to the immediate seizure of four cars considered unroadworthy, and six vehicles were banned from the road once they had been taken home or to a garage.

Out of the 22 cars that were pulled over for checks, police found a total of 73 defects – with only two cars being given a clean bill of health.

Officers served a total of five defect notices which result in a fine, 13 advice notices for problems such as tyres wearing low, and two tinting offences where cars had been illegally tinted.

Three of the car owners were also reported for summons – two for bad tyre conditions and one for failing to maintain brakes – and files will now be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Other similar assignments have been held in towns across the country.

Police have hailed the operation a success and are now planning to make it a regular event.

Pc Jayne Gardiner said: "We are very pleased because it has highlighted the problem. It's been an education process for those drivers. On the back of this we have made a decision to make it a regular occurrence."