43 fixed penalties and 56 protection notices since 2024, but car meets at Halstead go on. Fines are set to jump to £500 and three more years are planned.

Car meets have carried on around London Road at Halstead despite two and a half years of a banning order, 43 fixed penalty notices and 56 community protection notices. That is the council’s own assessment in a report going to councillors next week, which starts the process of extending the order for another three years. (Sevenoaks District Council, PSPO extension report, London Road, Halstead)

The Public Spaces Protection Order has been in force since March 2024. It covers London Road at Halstead, the Orpington By-Pass at Badgers Mount and the M25 spur road, the stretch of the A224 around Hewetts roundabout. The order bans car cruising and a list of behaviours connected to it, including:

  • revving engines, sounding horns and playing loud music
  • racing, speeding, and stunts such as doughnuts, wheel spins and handbrake turns
  • obstructing the highway, whether moving or parked, and parking on footways
  • verbal abuse or intimidation of members of the public

(Sevenoaks District Council, PSPO extension report, London Road, Halstead)

Enforcement so far, and fines five times higher

The report is candid that the order has not stopped the meets: “car meets have unfortunately continued throughout the duration.” Since March 2024 the council has issued 43 fixed penalty notices and 56 community protection notices. Thirteen of the protection notices were issued on behalf of the Metropolitan Police. (Sevenoaks District Council, PSPO extension report, London Road, Halstead)

The penalty is about to get heavier. The Government’s Crime and Policing Bill raises the maximum fixed penalty for breaching a PSPO from £100 to £500. Sevenoaks cabinet members signed a decision in June 2026 to apply the higher fine as soon as the law allows, and the council will amend the signage along the road when it does. (Sevenoaks District Council, PSPO extension report, London Road, Halstead)

Timeline: PSPO in force March 2024; 43 fixed penalties and 56 community protection notices since, 13 for the Met Police; June 2026 decision to raise fines from £100 to £500; committee considers the report 10 September; Cabinet decides on a consultation 22 September
Graphic by Sevenoaks Online

A camera stuck in the wiring

A deployable mobile camera was meant to be watching the area by now. The council received funding for it in January 2026 and got approval in July, but when contractor Chromovision went to install it, the wires were not usable. Kent County Council has said the fix could take a further three months. Once up, the camera would stay for at least six months. (Sevenoaks District Council, PSPO extension report, London Road, Halstead)

What happens next

The report goes to the People & Places Advisory Committee at 7pm on Thursday 10 September. Cabinet then decides on 22 September whether to authorise a four to six week public consultation on extending the order, with residents, local schools and visitors all able to comment. The restrictions and the area covered would stay the same. The full papers, including a map of the order area, are on the council’s committee pages. (Sevenoaks District Council, People & Places Advisory Committee agenda, 10 September 2026)

What it means for you

If the meets affect you, the consultation this autumn will be the formal chance to say so, and this report is the evidence base the council will use. If you drive the A224 corridor, the practical change is the fine: once the national law takes effect, a breach that costs £100 today will cost £500. Reports of nuisance vehicles can be made to Kent Police on 101, or through the council’s Community Safety Unit.

The same committee will consider the order at The Vine in Sevenoaks, where the story is the opposite: reports have all but stopped and the order is set to run to 2029. For what police record across the district each month, see our Sevenoaks crime figures.

Sources

Image: The A224 approaching Badgers Mount by David Howard, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph. Graphic by Sevenoaks Online.