POLICE are promising a clampdown on petrol-driven scooters causing havoc on Newport's streets.

The scooter riders are zooming along the roads and pavements on the Ringland and Alway estates at speeds of up to 20mph.

The scooters, made by brands including Go-ped and BuzzBoard, cost from £90 to £400 and have a petrol engine on the back.

Alway police Inspector Mark Wheatstone said: "It's only a matter of time before we have an accident with one of these things which is why we are starting a campaign to deter the use of them on the estates.

"Passers-by and the people using them are at risk." He said police re-ceived a lot of complaints about the petrol-driven scooters during the festive period and that several near misses were reported.

Insp Wheatstone said: "We are not out to spoil anyone's fun but if they take a spill on one of these things they could sustain serious injuries."

He said the vehicles were deemed to be motor vehicles and that users were committing Road Traffic Act offences by using them on pavements or riding on them without lights when dark.

He said case law also suggested the scooters required lights and insurance to operate.

Insp Wheatstone said the scooters were extremely noisy and were disrupting residents at night.

Anyone with questions about the legality of the vehicles can visit Alway police station to seek advice.

Go-peds were first developed in California in 1985. In September last year a 40-year-old man who was using a motorised scooter while over the drink drive limit was banned from driving for 16 months by Salisbury magistrates.

The court ruled the vehicle had to abide by the rules set out in the Road Traffic Act.

Newport city councillor Laura Buchanan-Smith said: "They are a danger to the public, coming out from street corners and whizzing along the pavements.

"I don't want to be a killjoy but we have to take into account the safety of the elderly."