• Firstly, I am very keen to stress that councillors and officers at MVDC fully understand the strength of feeling and distress in the local community caused by anti-social behaviour and excessive noise carried out by a minority of riders and drivers
• Since the Cabinet’s decision in mid-March to kick-start work to implement this PSPO, MVDC’s officers have been engaging with a number of partner organisations to progress this as quickly as possible. Work could not have started before this decision was made. MVDC set out a timeframe early in this process and I was clear about that when I presented the proposal to Cabinet in March. We are working towards this PSPO being in place in the summer months
• MVDC has been clear from the start of this process that the PSPO would only be enforceable when formal signage has been installed on the highway at designated spots in the identified PSPO area. This involves obtaining consent from Surrey County Council’s Highway’s team and the National Trust (specifically concerning the Zig-Zag) because the PSPO signage will be installed on their land. Both organisations have been engaged in the lead up to getting agreement for the PSPO, however, MVDC needs their formal permission to install the signage. MVDC also maintains a very positive working relationship with Rykas Café as a key stakeholder in this matter
• Careful planning and care is required to ensure the locations identified for PSPO signage do not interfere with, or detract from, existing highways signage and that no underground services – such as gas or electrical cables – are present at proposed site
• This all takes time. However, conversations are ongoing and, once necessary permissions have been resolved, MVDC has identified a company which will produce and install the PSPO signage
• Officers are also working very closely with the Police on how they will be enforcing the PSPO when it is in place, alongside how MVDC’s three officers in the Joint Enforcement Team can assist on the ground with some enforcement, although primarily educating drivers and riders
• In the meantime, the Police maintain their commitment to use the existing road traffic powers available to them in order to respond to reported issues now and crack down on anti-social behaviour
• I would like to reiterate that MVDC’s officers are working as quickly as possible to bring the PSPO into force. In the meantime, whilst the PSPO provides additional enforcement tools, the Police are not reliant on the PSPO to be in place to be able to tackle this anti-social behaviour, so please keep reporting incidents of dangerous driving that you see or hear to the Police

Mole Valley District Council (MVDC), along with partner agencies, received a number of reports from people who live and/or work in Mickleham, Westhumble and the surrounding area regarding excessive noise and acts of anti-social behaviour concerning vehicles. 

MVDC ran a consultation between 15 September and 31 October 2025 to understand what residents, businesses and visitors to the area thought about vehicle activity and driver behaviour within the drafted Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) area, including the A24.

A PSPO is a statutory power that allows a council to address a particular nuisance or problem in any given area that is detrimental to the local community’s quality of life. The order works by imposing conditions on the behaviours within the identified area which applies to everyone. They are designed to ensure that the law-abiding majority can use and enjoy public spaces, safe from anti-social behaviour.

A PSPO can be made for a period of up to three years with the option to extend it for up to another three years at a time. It is being recommended that this PSPO would be introduced for an initial period of three years. An extension can be for up to three more years and a PSPO can be extended more than once.

An in-depth summary of the consultation’s results can be found in Appendix A (from page 12 onwards) of the report to be considered at MVDC’s Scrutiny and Cabinet meetings.

Views of respondents were strongly polarised, with the dominant view being that there is a serious detrimental impact on the area from antisocial vehicle behaviour and favouring a PSPO. However, a large minority saw a PSPO as unnecessary, unenforceable, and harmful to local businesses and long-standing biker traditions.

A summary of the top-level results can be found here:

• The consultation yielded 990 responses. Along with the quantitative results, there were an enormous number of free text responses provided, amounting to 125 pages of comments.
• 62% of respondents were in favour of a PSPO, 29% were not in favour, and 9% didn’t know.
• 87% of responses were from Mole Valley residents. 34% were from the area being consulted on (Westhumble, Mickleham and Givons Grove).
• Residents of Givons Grove, Mickleham and Westhumble showed a higher level of support, with 85% in favour, 11% not in favour, and 4% didn’t know.
• Areas identified as experiencing most antisocial vehicle activity within the proposed PSPO area were the A24 from the Denbies roundabout to the Burford Bridge psuedo-roundabout (49%), the A24 from the Burford Bridge psuedo-roundabout to the Givons Grove roundabout (48%), the car park at Ryka’s Café (30%), and the Old London Road, Mickleham (19%).
• Other areas outside that highlighted in the survey included A24 (Givons Grove to Beaverbrook roundabout, Leatherhead (35 mentions), A24 (between Denbies and Deepdene roundabouts (30), Zig Zag Road, Boxhill (23), Pixham Lane (17), A24 (between Knoll and Beaverbrook roundabouts, Leatherhead (16), Young Street, Leatherhead (13). Many respondents also referred to the Zig Zag Road in other free text comments.
• The top three antisocial vehicle activities were considered to be speeding (66%), revving of engines (64%), and sudden/ rapid acceleration (64%).
• During the week issues were considered worse in the evenings and afternoons, and at weekends all day.
• 55% of consultees considered issues occurred all year, and 43% that they were mainly in the spring and summer.

Download PDF of the map

The above image and PDF show the proposed area in Mole Valley this PSPO will cover. The section of the A24 south of Dorking, the Old London Road, and Mickleham (B2209) roads were included in a previous version of the map, which formed part of the public consultation in 2025. 

The nearby Zig Zag Road is an additional area now being recommended for inclusion in the PSPO area. This follows consultation responses from the Police and National Trust, who own the road, detailing similar reports of anti-social behaviour by drivers and riders being reported to them, extending to the area up to Box Hill.

It will be an offence to perform any of the following activities so as to cause a public nuisance:

• Revving of engine
• Engine Idling (stationary vehicle)
• Speeding
• Performing stunts with motor vehicles
• Driving on convoy 
• Vehicle exhaust popping or backfiring
• Racing
• Sudden/Rapid acceleration 

Whilst the police – the lead agency – have a number of powers to enforce aspects of this anti-social driver and rider behaviour, the additional enforcement opportunities afforded by a PSPO will mean our Joint Enforcement Team (JET) officers will also have delegated authority to enforce. Both the police and the JET will be able to issue fixed penalty notices on the spot if the activity in contravention of the Order is witnessed by enforcement officers.

The consultation did not include questions around methods of enforcement. The results of the consultation were to inform MVDC and the police of driver behaviour in the identified area. 

It is the current position of MVDC and the police that the introduction of acoustic cameras is not an effective solution to the issued reported. This view is based on the lack of convincing evidence of their effectiveness in providing enforcement for anti-social behaviour relating to motorcycles. 

This is the open letter setting out this position in further detail. It was issued to the local community in September 2025 in response to calls in some quarters for acoustic cameras to be introduced as a primary method of enforcement.