Chris Coghlan wants the government to pay for new acoustic camera trials so councils and police can catch illegally loud exhausts without more patrols.
Chris Coghlan, the MP for Dorking and Horley, has asked the government to fund fresh trials of acoustic cameras, which catch vehicles with illegally loud exhausts. He made the case in a Westminster Hall debate on community policing on 21 October, his office said.
His argument is about money as much as noise. Councils and police, he says, need evidence that the cameras work before they spend on them, but have no spare budget to run the trials that would produce that evidence. Government funding, his office says, would break that “catch-22” without taking money from frontline services.
What the MP said
In a statement sent to Reigate News, Mr Coghlan said:
“Residents in my constituency endure antisocial driving and excessive noise from illegally modified exhausts. The police cannot be everywhere, and Public Spaces Protection Orders risk going unenforced.
A properly evaluated trial would establish whether acoustic cameras can deter offenders, give residents some peace and reduce the demand for repeated police deployments.
Local councils and police should not have to carry the financial risk of testing developing technology alone when communities across the country could benefit from the results.”
He wants practical help for police and councils to enforce Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs), “rather than relying on officers being ever-present to catch offenders”, in the words of his office.
How the cameras work
An acoustic camera pairs a sound recording with video, so it can identify an excessively noisy vehicle and capture evidence that could be used for enforcement, according to the MP’s office. Government-backed trials, it says, would let the police forces and councils taking part test how reliable the cameras are, whether the evidence stands up, what enforcement follows and what they cost to run, before committing to wider spending. The results would be shared with other areas.
The Department for Transport has tested the idea before. Its roadside trials ran from 18 October 2022 to 1 February 2023 in Keighley, Bristol, Great Yarmouth and Rubery in Birmingham, with £300,000 of funding. The reports were published in March 2024. Mr Coghlan’s office says the technology has moved on considerably since then and the latest equipment deserves a fresh assessment.
The A24 order near Box Hill
The nearest example is just over the borough boundary. Mole Valley District Council’s A24 and Surrounds Nuisance Vehicles PSPO came into force on 22 June 2026 and runs until 21 June 2029. It covers the A24 between the Denbies and Givons Grove roundabouts, the Old London Road through Mickleham and the Zig Zag Road between Mickleham and Box Hill.
Inside that area it is an offence to drive in convoy, idle a parked engine, perform stunts, race, rev, speed, accelerate suddenly or make an exhaust pop or backfire. Police and the council’s enforcement officers can issue fixed penalty notices on the spot when they see a breach.
The area around Rykas café, which the MP’s office describes as a popular gathering place for motorcyclists, has been part of it from the start. On 9 October the council added the café’s overflow car park. It says on its A24 page that it had been shown a sign at the site that appeared to encourage people to use the overflow car park for activity banned in the main one.
Signs have been slow to arrive. In an update dated 2 October, the council said it had hoped to have them up for the summer but did not, and now expects permanent roadside signs to be in place by the end of November, subject to final approval from Surrey Highways.
Not everyone agrees the cameras work
Mole Valley council and Surrey Police are not convinced. The council’s A24 page says it is their current position that acoustic cameras are “not an effective solution” to the problems reported, because of “the lack of convincing evidence of their effectiveness in providing enforcement for anti-social behaviour relating to motorcycles”. They set that out in a joint open letter in September 2025.
Residents nearer the A24 want them. Mickleham Parish Council’s petition asking for PSPOs and acoustic cameras in Mole Valley had 1,355 verified signatures when we checked on 26 October 2026. It asked the district council to run a three-month trial with a camera on a post in Old London Road near the Burford Bridge roundabout, which the petition says the council had costed at £35,000.
That gap between the evidence councils want and the cost of getting it is the one the MP is asking the government to close.
What it means for you
- Nothing changes yet. This is a request to the government, not a decision. No trial has been announced for Surrey.
- If you drive or ride the A24 near Box Hill, the Mole Valley order is already in force, and a fixed penalty can be issued on the spot for revving, racing, stunts or a popping exhaust inside its boundary.
- If loud exhausts are a problem where you live, you can report it to Surrey Police online. Mole Valley also takes PSPO breach reports through its PSPO page, and says the information helps it decide when to patrol.
- Mr Coghlan’s office has offered to put us in touch with an affected resident. If antisocial driving affects you in Horley or Reigate, tell us at hello@reigatenews.co.uk.
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