The four Black Country councils and West Midlands Police will appear before the High Court next week to apply for an interim injunction to ban "street racing" across the region.

If the application is successful, the interim injunction will prohibit people from participating in, attending, promoting, organising or publicising a street racing event, also known as car cruising, anywhere within the boroughs of Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell or Walsall.

Anyone breaching the injunction could be arrested, face penalties such as up to two years' imprisonment or an unlimited fine, or have their assets seized.

For the purposes of the application, street racing is defined as the act of drivers of cars, motorbikes or quadbikes meeting to race or show off in their vehicles.

A fixed-term injunction had previously been in force in the Black Country between 2015 and 2021, and helped dramatically reduce instances of street racing across the region in that time. However, there has been a noticeable rise in street racing activity since then, and two people tragically died at a street racing meeting in Sandwell earlier this autumn.

The new application is being led by the City of Wolverhampton Council on behalf of the four Black Country councils and West Midlands Police. It will be heard by The Honourable Mrs Justice Hill at The Royal Courts of Justice in London on Tuesday 20th December at 10:30am.

For more information, including full terms of the proposed interim injunction, power of arrest and documents and evidence in support of the application, you can visit wolverhampton.gov.uk.

People are also invited to submit comments and observations regarding street racing and the application for the interim injunction by emailing litigation@wolverhampton.gov.uk. Any evidence may be used in court.

Incidents of street racing should be reported to West Midlands Police on 101 or, in an emergency, always dial 999.