POLICE will be handed new powers to fine rowdy drivers caught revving their cars in Abingdon.

Vale of White Horse District Council has passed plans to tackle antisocial behaviour in the town, targeting people who deliberately make 'vehicle-related noise nuisance'.

It is set to bring in a public spaces protection order (PSPO), allowing police to issue a fine of up to £100 to anyone purposely revving engines, screeching around public spaces or blaring music from their car.

The council's cabinet rubber-stamped the plans this afternoon, after initially unveiling them in January. 

It said 89 per cent of residents who responded to consultation backed the new measures.

The PSPO was prompted by complaints in the town's car parks; particularly the multi-storey car park in The Charter.

Eric Batts, cabinet member for community safety at the council, said: “Revving of engines, loud music and other antisocial behaviour has been a cause for concern in Abingdon’s car parks for some time. 

"The public have given their overwhelming support to the new order and, as a result, we’ve approved the measure, meaning that local police now have the power to tackle the problem.”

The PSPO should officially come into force in August this year.

It also reinstates powers police had under a different order, a designated public places order, which was brought in in 2009.

The order, which is being replaced by the PSPO, allows police in Abingdon to ask people to stop drinking alcohol if they are behaving badly in a public area.

Police can confiscate the alcohol if they do not comply and issue fines if they refuse.

PSPOs have previously been criticised for giving local authorities too much power to make their own laws, but Oxford Mail readers backed the Abingdon PSPO earlier this year.