POLICE have now given more information on last night's car rally event that saw around 450 cars speeding through roads in Corringham and Stanford-le- Hope.

And the borough's district police commander has drawn parallels with an incident several years ago that saw a young woman lose a leg after a Manorway motorbike crash.

In that incident Bethany Bright, from Canvey Island, suffered serious injuries. She had to have her left leg amputated above the knee, had a compound fracture of her left hand and wrist, a collapsed lung, broken bones in her lower back, and a bleed on the brain. Several people were later sentenced for their part in the events that led up to the crash.

Last night's (Sunday, 4 April) car rally event which featured many high speed supercars and adapted custom-built vehicles was reported on Nub News after police cars, aided by the Essex and kent forces' helicopter, attempted to disperse the vehicles whioch were racing on the manorway at one point.

Police say that one person has been arrested and 22 people were given tickets following the drivers' get together.

A statement from the force says: "We became aware of a group involving up to 450 cars which initially congregated in the car park of Sainsbury's in Chelmsford before moving to the Manorway in Thurrock.

"Local policing officers, road police units, and officers from the Operational Support Group attended each location to disperse the group. When they tried to return in the early hours of this morning to another site in Chelmsford, officers dispersed them.

"In total one person was arrested and 22 fines were given tickets, which means points on their licence, for offences such as speeding and careless driving.

"A number of other people received formal warnings that similar behaviour in future would result in their car being seized."

District Commander for Thurrock chief inspector Richard Melton, said: "We acted quickly to deal with this challenging situation which involved a meet consisting of a very large number of vehicles.

"These events do pose a danger to the public as there is often an element who will be driving anti-socially and dangerously.

"Only a few years ago a young woman had to have part of her leg amputated after being hit by a motorbike at an illegal meet.

"Our roads policing teams continue to work to tackle street racing, dangerous driving, and anti-social driving because we know the risk it poses and the harm it can cause.

"The sheer number of vehicles involved posted a challenge to our officers but we had additional resources available to deal with it and were able to do so without anyone being injured.

"An organised meet like this is also a clear and blatant breach of the Government's Covid-19 regulations.

Chief Insp Melton added: "We continue to work with our partners to make this kind of activity more difficult to carry out.

"Our partners at Thurrock Council have put additional measures in place, such as a public space protection order (PSPO) which give us increased powers to deal and disperse these events.

"We will continue to work with them to keep you safe on our roads and in our communities."