Nine vehicles have been impounded, and “a number of drivers” have been arrested after a Hawke’s Bay street racing event involving 200 cars was shut down.
Hundreds of people gathered on Saturday night, doing burnouts and racing.
Road policing manager Inspector Angela Hallett said police received more than 30 calls about the event and showed up in “heavy” numbers to disrupt it.
Hallett estimated around 200 participating vehicles were stopped, with officers finding a number of drivers had breached their license conditions.
Police checked a number of vehicles for compliance, breath testing all drivers.
“Dozens” of people were found to have breached license conditions and committed other offences, which resulted in nine vehicles being impounded.
“A number of drivers” were also found to be over the legal breath alcohol or blood alcohol level and have been summonsed to court with “some” arrested.
Police also claim that fireworks were used against officers by the group, meaning they had to use “strong measures to keep our staff safe and reduce harm to innocent members of the public”.
“The driving behaviour is unsafe and puts the participants and other motorists at risk and damages the roads,” Hallett said.
“Our priority was to keep the public safe.”
Police are now reviewing footage from the weekend and are working to identify all of the vehicles involved.
“Police will continue to focus our efforts on those whose driving behaviour puts themselves and others at risk, particularly as we head into summer,” Hallett said.
“Police will take enforcement action and hold those to account.”