One man was arrested overnight as police in Christchurch battled boy racers for a third night in a row.
The man, whose car was impounded, was charged with sustained loss of traction, failing to stop for police, dangerous driving and escaping custody.
Still, authorities said, last night was an improvement on earlier in the weekend – when chaos on the streets kept officers busy for hours.
"Police received a small number of calls reporting boy racer activities in the early hours of this morning, but, fortunately, far less than the number received on Saturday evening,” said Superintendent Lane Todd, Canterbury Metro Commander.
Canterbury police told 1 NEWS yesterday that their once cordial relationship with race meet organisers has "unfortunately been pushed to the side".
Cars flooded into the city from all over the South Island for an event known as the 'Aves Invasion'.
"The behaviour we saw at the weekend was certainly a big concern for us, but also the wider community," Mr Todd said.
Officers spent hours on Saturday night and early Sunday morning following hundreds of boy racers to different locations - handing out 177 infringement notices but no arrests and no cars impounded.
The events caused so much disruption to residents that police believe one person reported a fire just to get officers to the scene. And on Friday night, police said race attendees threw bottles at them as they tried to keep behaviour in check.
Police described the contentious relationship and bad behaviour as a waste a resources – especially on a weekend, when they need to devote resources to family harm call-outs.
Local business owner John Gilmore described the activities as "absolutely annoying".
"It’s too common down here," he said. "They’ve graffitied all the wall and we oftern get out buildings graffitied."
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