FOR THE past few months an area of Southampton has virtually become a no-go area as it is transformed week after week into a race track for dangerous car cruising.

But for more than 150 car cruising enthusiasts last night was a meet' with a difference when they were caught up in a ring of steel by more than 40 Hampshire police officers.

Operation Washout was the biggest police operation carried out by Hampshire police to prevent antisocial and dangerous driving.

Without prior warning a large convoy of police vans, cars and officers blocked off every entry and exit to Tollbar Way near Hedge End Retail Park led by sector Inspector Shona Hood.

She said: "The primary aim is to stop car cruises in Tollbar Way. It has been going on for a number of years but the situation has now got out of control.

"In recent weeks there has been in excess of 200 to 300 cars gathering at the retail park as well as hundreds of spectators.

"I have got a real fear that this could lead to a serious accident and we need to get the message out that they are not welcome in this area."

This latest operation was in response to complaints received from residents and businesses and those who use the retail park.

Hedge End Retail Park has become a popular meeting place for owners of modified cars with up to 350 cars congregating outside the fast food restaurants.

Some of them use the Tollbar Way dual carriageway as a makeshift race track while others just congregate in large groups in the car parks showing off maneovres such as handbrake spins and donuts.

Teams of officers were set up at every exit and entry point into Tollbar Way from every direction and any vehicle believed to be participating in car cruising was stopped and checked.

Stuart Barter, assistant manager at the KFC restaurant at Hedge End Retail, Park said: "It's been going on for weeks but now it has got a lot worse. I have had just two customers in the last hour because they are driving them away. A lot of my customers find it intimidating when they see so many cars and people just hanging around in big groups. Some of them pour oil on the roads so they can do wheel spins and donuts."

Uniformed officers, dog handlers, traffic police, air support unit and vehicle inspectors all took part in the operation at around 9pm last night. While some of the car cruisers understood they could be intimidating to families and residents the majority felt they were not doing anything wrong and said they had nowehere else to go.

Shaun Merce, 21, drove down from Bournemouth to attend the gathering. He said: "We went to a legal fast car meet in Exeter on Saturday and heard about this in Hedge End and were all told to come here.

"We're not causing trouble. We're just here to show off our cars and admire other people's cars. We thought this was a proper organised event."

Lara Nolan, 19, of West End and Kiri Allen, also 19, of Hedge End, blamed people who come from other cities who have ruined it for the locals. Lara said: "This is somewhere where we can just meet up with our friends. We're not here to cause trouble.

"We meet here because there are too many of us to meet at a pub. We can see how this could be intimidating for some people but we're not doing anything wrong."

The operation went off without any real trouble or incident although some car enthusiasts felt they were unduly picked on because of their age and their car.

One 19-year-old, who did not wish to be named, had his car prohibited by vehicle inspectors for having two bald tyres.

He said: "I was just stopped because my car is modified and I'm young. It's discrimination. I've already got three points on my licence and now I'm going to get even more.

While the police admit they cannot prevent car cruisers from meeting up every night they say they will continue to carry out similar operations to act as a strong message that they are not welcome.