Cancellation of the annual Fours and Rotary Autoshow failed to stop boy racers from descending on central Christchurch streets at the weekend.

However, a police operation targeting the influx of car enthusiasts may have dampened more than a few spirits.

Operation Penguin resulted in 20 cars being seized or impounded, a further 41 cars written off as being unsafe, 64 breaches of licence conditions, 10 licence suspensions and about 300 other car-related infringement notices.

The operation ran over Friday and Saturday nights and involved 35 road policing police officers as well as NZ Transport Agency inspectors and court bailiffs.

Canterbury road policing manager Inspector Al Stewart said court bailiffs would have recovered in the realm of $7500 in unpaid fines over the course of the weekend.

Stewart said there were ''definitely higher than average'' numbers of boy racers currently frequenting the central city, which was expected in the warmer summer months.

He said the ''bulk'' of boy racers in the city at the weekend were locals.

Stewart said central city residents and business owners were starting to lay more complaints to police about boy racers, which was ''an indication activity is on the up''.

He said police understood their ''frustrations'' and would target boy racer offending where possible.

However, noise alone was not an offence police could issue tickets for, he said.

Selwyn police also reported a large gathering of boy racers was broken up at the intersection of  Robinsons/Waterholes roads intersection on Friday night.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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