Two men charged with dangerous driving after police break up huge car cruise with over 350 vehicles

Two men were arrested and charged with dangerous driving after police broke up what they said was one of the largest car cruise events they had ever seen in Greater Manchester.

More than 350 vehicles were spread out across four different areas in the city-region and a large police presence was deployed to break up the event.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said it has a dedicated operation to deal with these events and said vehicles were seized and other drivers given warnings about their behaviour which could lead to prosecutions if they are repeated.

What happened at the car cruise event?

More than 350 vehicles were involved in the car cruise, which took place across locations in Cheadle, Trafford, Wigan and Salford. It took place on Sunday 30 October.

Two men - Callum Willey. 18, of Landseer Mount in Leeds and 20-year-old Connor Aldred of Barton Road in Bolton - were arrested and charged with dangerous driving in Salford. They have now been released on bail and will appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates Court on Tuesday 29 November 2022. A third person was also arrested on suspicion of disorderly behaviour and has been released under investigation.

Police said there were more than 100 cars at a site in Stockport, an area which has a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) on it, and a further 200 cars were gathering at Trafford Retail Park. In addition officers became aware that there were about 30 cars on Westwood Way in Wigan and another 40 being reported at the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford.

GMP has Operation Marshall which deals with car cruises and the force used traffic drones, police evidence gatherers and a large number of officers at the various scenes to stop the event in its tracks.

In addition to the arrests six vehicles were seized from car cruisers who were driving in an anti-social manner and nine others received warnings which mean that if they are caught again their vehicles will be taken from them. GMP also took two other vehicles from drivers who had invalid insurance or no driving licence, while multiple people are now facing fines for breaching the PSPO in Stockport.

What has GMP said about the operation?

Superintendent John-Paul Ruffle of specialist operations at GMP said: “Operation Marshall was instigated to effectively manage this car cruise event and was dealt with swiftly and proactively by departments across specialist operations, the force gold reserve and district officers.

“This was a great achievement for GMP and our partners, sending a clear message to anyone who thinks it’s a good idea to organise and/or attend these kinds of events, that Greater Manchester police will stop you – and deal with you.”