Joyriders raise hell for residents

Joyriders have also been disturbing the peace in the perfect rural setting, less than a mile away from Oxford's Blackbird Leys estate, where young car criminals gained notoriety in 1991 and 1995.

But while the sound of the open-air opera divided residents in the picturesque village, there has been perfect harmony on the issue of joyriders using the straight country roads to race stolen vehicles.

Leonard Ingrams, chairman of Garsington Opera, was accused of causing an annoyance to his neighbours but was cleared of the noise charge when the case was heard before magistrates in January.

Now residents have been making themselves heard about car crime and when The problem was brought to the attention of Garsington Parish Council and two local beat officers were alerted.

They passed the information along the chain of command to the specialists - staff working at Oxford's auto-crime unit.

Four officers dedicated to ridding the streets of car criminals immediately agreed to investigate.

They discovered that youths from Oxford were driving to Wheatley, where they would steal cars to race them back to the city - via Garsington.

The teenagers were placed under surveillance and six people were arrested in connection with alleged aggravated vehicle taking. The cases are now being processed by the courts.

Chairman of the parish council, Ann Tomline, who lives in Wheatley Road, said the news of the arrests was a victory for people power and would delight all the residents in the village.

She said: "This is a tremendous breakthrough and shows what you can achieve if you discuss an issue like this at a local level and then pass on the information to the police. "Our lives have been made an absolute nightmare by car criminals using the roads in the village because they can reach tremendous speeds.

"At one point in the road near my home there is a dip, followed by a hump and they speed towards it so they can take off."

Mrs Tomline added: "We are pleased that arrests have been made but now we would like a greater police presence to try to ensure that the problem does not return.

"We are not convinced that it has entirely gone away. A few days ago, one resident had his caravan broken into, which shows that thieves are still around."

She added that the joyriding problem had become so bad that villagers feared children at the primary school could be knocked down and killed.

She added: "The issue of the opera divided a lot of people but everyone will be pleased that car thieves who have been plaguing the area have been caught.

"The next stage is to discuss the contentious issue of traffic-calming measures. The speed-limit is 30mph but no-one abides by it."

Delia Wells, 47, who also lives in Wheatley Road, has witnessed a number of serious accidents near her home.

She said: "I'm glad the police have taken action. At night, you can hear the joyriders doing a circuit round the village. If you're on horseback, drivers show no courtesy and you often get your stirrups clipped."

Chairman of Wheatley Parish Council, Martin Lomas, also welcomed the police crackdown.

He said: "Rural areas are often targeted and it is horrible to see the burned-out cars left littering the countryside.

"We hope the police continue to keep an eye out for joyriders and car thieves because the problem seems to get worse in the summer." Meanwhile, police in Oxford have promised to continue to crack down on young car criminals following the arrest of six joyriders who allegedly stole vehicles in the Wheatley area.

Officers working for Thames Valley Police auto-crime unit, based at Cowley, arrested six youths aged under 18 during the past few months for aggravated vehicle taking.

Three of them were recently sentenced to terms of imprisonment, while three others are now awaiting sentence.

Police began targeting known offenders earlier this year when Garsington residents complained.

Detectives set up surveillance teams and made a number of arrests after discovering cars were being stolen from Wheatley by youths living in the Oxford area.

Sgt Tony Collingwood, of the auto-crime unit, said: "We want to send out a message to young car criminals that we won't tolerate this sort of crime.

"We don't use the term joyriding because those committing this sort of crime could kill or injure themselves or other drivers."

But some young criminals have still not got the message. Five cars were torched last weekend, including two in a layby near Dalton Barracks, Abingdon.

Sgt Collingwood added that there was no longer a particular problem in the Blackbird Leys area where joyriding was rife in 1991 and 1995.

But traffic calming measures including road humps on the estate have displaced the problem to areas like Garsington, where long stretches of straight road attract car thieves. The officer added that car crime had fallen significantly in the Oxford police area during the past year.

Between April 1996 and January 1997 there were 2,300 cars stolen in the Oxford area. That figure fell to 1,600 between April 1997 and January of this year.

"That reduction has been brought about partly by the success of Operation Bulldog, which advised drivers parking in Oxford car parks to fit security devices to keep out thieves.

"We would like to reiterate that advice because we want to see car crime figures continue to fall."

But the arrest of six youths does not mean that the problem will vanish overnight. Last weekend, five cars were torched in four separate incidents.

The first took place in Stanton St John at 8pm and a second behind shops in Normandy Crescent, Oxford, at midnight.

The third car went up in flames in a field off Green Lane, Abingdon, and two more were set alight in a lay-by near Dalton Barracks, in Honeybottom Lane, near Abingdon.

Pc Mike Harrison, at Abingdon Police Station, said the last incident had no connection with the nearby army base.

He said: "They were just joyriders. The lay-by is a quiet convenient place where they can do what they want without interference."

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