Cheddar Gorge near Bristol was closed on the weekend after hundreds of drivers attended a huge car meet-up.
Around 400 motorists were seen performing doughnuts and drifting at the beauty spot on Sunday evening (August 16), forcing police to take action and shut the road due to acts of dangerous driving.
Somerset Live reports that police say they will not allow 'public roads to be treated as a race track.’
Cheddar Gorge was shut to traffic at about 8.45pm and drivers were ordered to leave, before around 80-100 vehicles were later reported to have arrived at Sainsbury’s car park in Worle.
During the weekend eight vehicles were stopped, one drug search was conducted, two drivers were handed fixed penalty notices for breach of vehicle regulations and one driver was caught without valid insurance.
Inspector Andy Pritchard said officers will take action against those who put 'innocent people in jeopardy'.
“Extra resources were deployed to the Gorge over the weekend because of concerns regarding a planned car meet on Sunday," he said.
“We will not tolerate the dangerous driving that people were subjected to in Cheddar or Weston and we will not allow public roads to be treated as a race track.
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“Our priority was, first and foremost, to ensure the public’s safety and therefore the Gorge was closed as a last resort. We apologise for anyone inconvenienced, but hope they can appreciate why it was necessary on this occasion.
“Officers on the scene were equipped with body worn cameras and we will be reviewing that footage, identifying those drivers and taking action against those responsible for putting innocent people in jeopardy.
“Quite simply, car meets in the Gorge are not safe and we will be deploying officers in the area again this weekend.”
