By Conor Sharkey

BANNING car cruises in Strabane will only push drivers under ground, participants warned this week.

While the 'cruising' phenomenon has been popular across the North for a number of years, the craze has only started to grow in popularity in Strabane over the past six months.

But the rise in interest locally has been somewhat meteoric and today the 'Strabane Carpark Cruzers' website boasts close to 100 members.

But what does car cruising mean to the average motorist?

Well to the untrained eye, a car cruise consists of gangs of boy racers congregating to 'dif' and 'donut', akin to scenes from American movie The Fast and the Furious.

But nothing could be further from the truth, according to several of those who joined around 400 motorists and close to 1,000 spectators at the old Asda car park on Sunday night.

The event was the second to be held in Strabane in recent months. The first car cruise was held in April as a tribute to young Shane Caldwell, who died following a road accident earlier this year.

Such was the success of the display, organisers decided a second cruise would be appropriate.

But reports of trespassing, assault and motoring mayhem have prompted fierce criticism from some quarters and indeed calls for future events to be banned.

However, according cruising fans Daniel McLaughlin, Kieran Kelly and Jason Friel, a ban would only lead to bigger problems.

Speaking yesterday (Wednesday), they explained that cruising is about providing motoring enthusiasts the opportunity to show off the various aspects of their car, including body kits, wheels and sound systems.

Not quite the 'rip it up, let it loose' picture painted by a small minority, but more of a hobby. And a costly one at that.

Mr Kelly explained: "Most of the people involved are like ourselves. They aren't into football or Gaelic. They are into cars. And that's what cruises are about. It brings cars together from across Donegal, Omagh, Derry and you can check out what the other person has done or show what you have added to your car. It's a hobby," he explained.

With regard to the bad publicity that inevitably goes with souped up cars, Mr McLaughlin said 99.9 percent of it is unwarrented.

"There are people out there who paint a bad picture for the rest with the way they speed about on the main roads. But for most cruisers, it's about showing off the car. Most of the cars that turned up on Sunday had been lowered and had special wheels. They look great but couldn't travel at very high speed. So the image most people have of us is wrong. But there is a few who make us look bad.

"Most of the drivers who come along have been involved in cruising for years and know what they are doing. These things have been happening in Portrush and other places for a long time with full police co-operation. I have to admit the first one in Strabane was dangerous because it was so badly organised. But the one on Sunday was different. There were safety barriers and traffic cones in place and there was plenty of room for the cars to manouvre. There's always going to be danger, no matter what, but if these things are organised and run right, then most of the time they go off peacefully," he said.

As the fallout from Sunday continues to unfold, the three men believe cruising locally could be nipped in the bud before it has even begun.

"The organisers of this event did speak with the police on a couple of occasions before hand and the police were there before any of the cars even arrived.

"Then at the end they came and pulled out the CS spray which was a bit uncalled for. As for the boy who got punched, that was just a random thing by someone who had nothing to do with the cruise.

"But when you add all these things up, I would find it hard to believe there will be anymore in Strabane. But if these things can't be held in a controlled environment, I would say a lot of the drivers will take it on to the main roads or to private yards.

"That's not the way it should be and we want to go through the legal channels to allow the cruises to continue.

"There was nearly 1000 people there at the weekend, so it was great entertainment for them and the whole thing more or less went off peacefully. For us, it's about the cars and I hope the police allow another one to go ahead," he said.