Woman injured in crash

A WOMAN driver was injured in a crash with a car thought to be driven by a “boy racer”. She works at the Tesco store off Reading Road, where groups of young people have been holding noisy car meet-ups in the car park at night since September. She was driving home after a shift on Saturday, November 18 when she was in collision with another car on the A4155 Henley-Reading road.

Her car was written off and she was taken to hospital where she given stitches before being released. The crash is said to have happened near Shiplake and a witness alleged the other driver had been trying to overtake her after attending a meet-up outside the supermarket. Tesco has put up temporary barriers to deter the racers from using its car park and may install CCTVcameras.

Residents have complained that the drivers speed through the town and make noise at antisocial hours, often late at night on Sundays. A resident of Watermans Road said he went to the car park at about 11.10pm on Sunday after hearing the sound of engines revving and cars doing “doughnuts”. He saw more than 50 cars and said the car park was “rammed”.

Sam Evans, a former town councillor, who lives nearby, said: “I did hear it on Sunday. I was sitting up for a couple of hours comforting my very distressed dog. My neighbours were up with their young children as well.

“At this end of town it feels like you’re sleeping on a Formula 1 racetrack. It is so loud, with all the engines backfiring and doing whatever — the noise is horrendous.” Ms Evans, who warned last week that she feared somebody could be killed, added: “Somebody has already been injured and it’s going to happen again.

“The frequency seems to have increased with meet ups on the last two weekends. “I don’t know whether it has become the favourite place for them to come but it is obviously growing in popularity. “I think the police are committed across the board and I cannot speak for Tesco but it doesn’t seem like it’s a priority for them.

“But the town council should keep it top of their list. It’s all very well having a fabulous Christmas but surely the safety of their residents should be a priority.” Helen Walters said she had heard the noise from her home in Wharfe Lane.

She said: “It goes to show how far it’s travelling. I heard really loud screeching and it was kind of continuous. Initially, I thought it was coming from Waitrose but I came into the office and spoke to my colleague, who lives much closer and said: ‘That was Tesco’.”

Mayor Kellie Hinton said that Councillors Michelle Thomas and Glen Lambert were liaising with Tesco and the police. She added: “We do care but we don’t own the land and we’re not the police so we cannot get involved anymore than that.” An employee from Tesco told a resident that the company was aware of the meet-ups and had decided to put up temporary silver barriers at the entrance to the car park at 9pm when the store shuts.

She said the store had contacted the police, who “drove in and straight out again”. She said she was waiting for the cameras to be installed and that signage for them had already been put up but without the support of the police the problem was “very difficult” to manage. She said police had told her they had not received many 101 calls from the public.

In its November report to the council, Thames Valley Police said: “On September 9, police received calls regarding speeding motor vehicles along Reading Road and a gathering of vehicles in Tesco’s car park. “These gatherings have continued with many vehicles being driven from Hampshire, Bracknell and Buckinghamshire. “Police have attended with the vehicles quickly dispersing and several vehicles are being investigated for drink/drug driving, careless driving and notice of intended prosecution.

“Police are in communications with Tesco to aid with prevention measures and a barrier at the entrance of the store would prevent this occurring immediately.”