A Basildon retail complex is spending tens of thousands of pounds to prevent "boy racers" turning it into a racetrack.
Mayflower Retail Park in Gardiners Lane South has had to place a wall of concrete barriers around its car parks and hire security guards to prevent illegal races on Saturday nights.
Colin Duckett, spokesman for Jones Lang LaSalle, the company that manages the park, said the illegal races had been an ongoing problem.
He added: "These young people have been known to use angle grinders to cut through steel barriers and burned out cars have been abandoned near businesses. There's a safety issue with burned out cars left in the park and oil put down by the racers to spin tyres.
"We've installed CCTV and steel bollards to prevent access and now we have lost 20 parking spaces to the concrete barriers."
Parts of the park are being redesigned to stop some drivers going too fast.
Published Friday, January 17, 2003
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