Canterbury boyracers noisiest in country

Boyracers in Canterbury received almost half of all tickets handed out nationally by police for noisy vehicles last year.

Last year more than 3800 noise-infringement tickets were handed out nationwide with more than 1700 going to Canterbury drivers, The Press reported today.

Canterbury's acting road policing manager, Senior Sergeant Neville Hyland said the high number of infringement notices issued in the region was possibly due to police vigilance.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker has taken a stand against boyracers this month, calling on the Government to tell Christchurch residents what it would do to address the problem.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce has promised to visit the city in the next six weeks to see the problem at "ground level".

He would also talk to Police Minister Judith Collins on whether current laws gave police enough power to act against boy racers.

The Ministry of Transport is writing a report for Mr Joyce on proposals to curb noisy cars. The report should be finished mid-year.

A German television programme recently depicted Christchurch as a place where "motorised youth" were "out of control".

- NZPA