Drivers in Soho and Mayfair may soon be penalised for loudly revving their engines and racing under plans to expand a Public Space Protection Order.
A proposal is before Westminster City Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children and Public Protection, Cllr Aicha Less, to extend the order following a public consultation.
Currently covering an area including most of St James’s ward, Knightsbridge and Belgravia, the proposed expansion is largely in response to issues on Bond Street, with motorbikes in Soho also a problem.
Cllr Max Sullivan, Cabinet Member for Streets, said the council “will continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to keeping our communities safe and free to enjoy our city”.
The existing Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) was approved in December 2021 in an effort to address vehicle anti-social behaviour (ASB). It was renewed in December 2024 for a further three years.
The PSPO enables the council and the Met Police to issue fixed penalty notices (FPNs) within the designated area for a string of actions between 12pm and 6am.
These include performing stunts, playing loud music or using threatening behaviour towards another person.
The council says it has handed out more than 350 FPNs for breaches of the PSPO since 2022, many for illegal meets on Exhibition Road in the west of the borough.
During the renewal process a consultation was carried out asking for feedback on other affected areas, with Soho and Mayfair topping the list.
The New West End Company (NWEC), a local business partnership, provided data indicating between April 2023 and June 2025 there were 33 reported car meets on New Bond Street, with the Met called on 25 of those occasions and vehicles deployed on 14.
According to a council report: “The impact of this behaviour is a growing concern for the public, local businesses, and the council. Tyre burnouts leave lasting skid marks on road surfaces, contributing to the visual deterioration of a high-profile retail area and necessitating more frequent resurfacing at a cost to the council and its partners.
“Additionally, evidence gathered by NWEC indicates that anti-social vehicle use is disrupting retail security systems, triggering false alarms and leading to the unnecessary deployment of costly resources such as security fog systems, which are activated by the loud disturbances.”
The report also recommends the PSPO as a whole be renewed, to run until August 31 2028.
Tim Lord, Chair of the Soho Society, said the organisation is “very supportive” of the proposal.
“We think it will help,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). “We have had a spate of motorbike racing late at night in Soho which appears to be dangerous and is quite incomprehensibly loud and frightening for visitors, residents and businesses.”
Mr Lord added a key issue will be for the Met to successfully hire more officers for the West End.
Conservative West End councillor Tim Barnes is also among those to show his support for the plans.
He posted on X that he was “delighted” by the proposed extension and has written to Cllr Less to advocate for its implementation.
“This is something that I have pushed hard to see happen and am hopeful it will now pass!” he wrote.
Cllr Sullivan said: “Illegal and dangerous driving is a blight on our streets, putting lives at risk and disrupting people going about their days and evenings in our city. We are working directly with the Metropolitan Police to tackle illegal car meets head-on, aided by the recruitment of 80 new local police officers, and the council’s new high-spec CCTV network and bolstered team of city inspectors.
“The recent seizure of dozens of uninsured vehicles is a testament to our combined efforts, and we will continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to keeping our communities safe and free to enjoy our city.”
