A CRACKDOWN on boy racers has taken a new turn with the police seizing a vehicle for the first time in a Kent town.

The 19-year-old driver was described as “angry” as he watched his Rover being towed away by a pick-up truck at The Fairway, off Golf Road, in Deal on Thursday.

Sgt Mark Weller said: “We impounded the car as a direct message to others to stop driving like idiots.

“Residents have had enough of this unsocial behaviour and we know these drivers make people’s lives a misery.

“Moments before this vehicle was taken away, the driver, who lives in north Deal, reversed at speed around a corner on the pavement.

“If someone had been coming out of that front door then they would there would have been a serious injury.”

The neighbourhood policing sergeant said it as the first time new police powers to impound a car had been put into force in Deal under Section 59 of the Crime and Disorder Act.

Boy racers have been reported wheel-spinning and driving on pavements in the town, as well as playing loud music and sitting revving engines.

Sgt Weller said: “Enough is enough. These drivers just do not drive properly around Deal, especially in the north part of town, where there have been lots of complaints.”

He paid tribute to those people who have been collating evidence in diaries about a variety of anti-social behaviour incidents, and taking down registration numbers.

“Thousands of people live in Deal and it is not possible to have as many police officers as residents,” he said.

“We need help from the community and the car impounded on Thursday shows that partnership does work.”

The driver will have to pay £105 to retrieve his car and £12 daily until it is collected.