We went to get burgers – now all 12 of us have been slapped with a £100 fine

A GROUP of 12 drivers were slapped with £100 fines after going out to dinner for burgers.

Antony Willson, 27, was one of twelve motorists hit with fines after they parked at the shopping centre in Greenhithe, Kent, for dinner.

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And the group say they were shocked then they came back from dinner to find cops surrounding their cars.

All 12 motorists were dished on-the-spot fines of £100 as part of efforts to crackdown on ‘boy racer’ meet ups.

But the drivers claim they hadn’t even arrived in a convoy to the carpark – and had only just parked next to each other after they arrived about 6pm on October 22.

Antony, who was driving a Vauxhall Astra VXR, told Kent Online: “I literally came out from having a meal with friends and my car was surrounded by 10-15 police cars. We were trying to leave, we were not staying.”

Antony’s offence is listed as: “Driver of white Vauxhall Astra parked with around 12 cars stating they were on a car cruise of Kent coast.”

But he claims they weren’t doing anything wrong and were just meeting to socialise.

Cameron Slee, 27, from Rochester, was also there and believes the group has been wrongly labelled ‘boy racers’.

He has appealed his fine for ‘vehicle parked in Red Car Park at Bluewater’ but is yet to hear back from Dartford Council.

Cameron said: “We don’t come in convoys or speed and none of us revved our engines or tried to do tyre spins or doughnuts.

“If we knew were going to be clamped down on like this we would not have entertained it.

“If we were told there was a PSPO we would have moved on.”

Kent Police says the force is taking “robust action” to make sure motorists aren’t participating in anti-social behaviour.

Officers are working to ensure the area isn’t “treated as a racetrack”.

Under the powers of a Public Space Protection Order it makes it an offence to participate in car cruising or a car cruising event.

Kent Police Community Safety Unit Inspector Trevor Jenner said: “The fine was issued to this driver as part of our ongoing work to tackle anti-social behaviour in Greenhithe.

“The motorist was part of a group who had travelled to Kent as part of a car cruise.”

A Dartford council spokesman said it trusts police to take positive action to deter anti-social behaviour.

He said: “Ultimately it is down to police officers to determine what actions they need to take.

“Any recipient of a fixed penalty notice who feels it has been issued improperly should make contact with the council to make an appeal.”