A driver has been disqualified after taking part in a drag race in Laindon.

Thomas Parker, of Cressing Road, Braintree was banned from getting behind the wheel for 12 months at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

The 28-year-old competed in a speed trial in his Renault Clio on Southfields Industrial Estate at around 8.45pm on August 18.

Video footage showed Parker racing against another car on Christy Way, a busy single carriageway used to access the industrial area.

Parker admitted taking part in the race and was also ordered to pay a £310 fine, £85 costs and a £31 victim surcharge.

Sgt Simon Willsher from the South Road Policing Unit said: “We support the right of enthusiasts to meet and socialise in a legal and respectful manner.

"However public safety is our priority and where dangerous and anti-social behaviour takes place we will take action to put offenders through the courts.

“The video clearly shows Parker racing alongside another vehicle surrounded by spectators stood just metres away.

“Street racing poses a danger not just to the drivers themselves but also to those watching and sadly we have seen nationally the very real consequences of when these meets go disastrously wrong.”