JOYRIDERS have been warned they could die - or kill an innocent member of the public - if they persist in racing on a riverside car park.

As summer gets underway, the seasonal problem in Stourport - which Wyre Forest District Council says also damages its property - has resurfaced.

The stark warning comes during a clampdown which is seeing the authority prosecute two youths reported by riverside traders to the police for joyriding on the council-owned grass car park last Sunday.

Andrew Dickens, cultural, leisure and commercial services manager, said: "The persistent offenders are local car owners who use the grass overflow car park as a race track and perform high-speed manoeuvres like handbrake turns and do slalom courses.

"They can't get on to the meadows themselves, but what a lot of people do is park on the car park and have picnics next to their cars.

"It's only a matter of time before one of the drivers gets killed - or one of the innocent people using the riverside meadows."

Mr Dickens added it was a daytime as well as an evening problem. "There were two other offenders on Saturday afternoon the day before the two were reported."

PC Jon Harris, beat manager for Stourport, said the problem was being addressed and was not as bad as previous years. "We've got a summer policing plan to address problems such as the boy-racing element."

One of the reasons for the clampdown was to make the riverside a safer and more pleasant environment.

"We want to attract more people to the riverside but people won't come with local youths performing their tricks," explained Brian Glass, the district council's portfolio holder for community health and safety.

"I want the message to go out loud and clear that we don't want this behaviour and it won't be tolerated."