A mass boy racer convoy attracting more than 1000 people from as far afield as Christchurch and Invercargill is expected to cruise around the greater Dunedin area this weekend.
The "Dunedin Big Cruise event" - organised on Facebook - is to begin on Friday night, and promises to "clog streets" before meeting at an Andersons Bay Rd service station at midnight.
The cruise would take in Taieri Mouth, Waihola, Outram and Mosgiel. Organisers have called for "a vandalism free night" and others are arranging possible burn-out areas.
Last night, more than 1000 car enthusiasts indicated they would attend, while a further 500 hoped to get a ride to attend the event.
Dunedin road policing manager Senior Sergeant Phil McDouall said "we are anticipating a few turning up here on Friday ... and we will be prepared for them".
He confirmed police had been monitoring the Facebook site, and would keep a low profile during the cruise.
"I suspect it will be a game for them if we become too in their face, and we don't want it to become a game.
"There will be a lot of attention seekers, so we will just monitor it."
Local boy racers were generally well behaved, but "we haven't had the Christchurch people down here", Snr Sgt McDouall said.
"It is the first time we have struck them coming this far south ... you could say it is not normal."
More than 300 boy racers took part in a Christchurch charity cruise on Saturday, which led to dozens of complaints and tied up police resources.
An anti-cruising bylaw targeting boy racers was adopted by the Christchurch City Council in 2010, effectively banning groups of cars from cruising on some of the city's streets at certain times.
Offenders flouting that ban could be fined up to $1000.
Snr Sgt McDouall said "at this stage" there was no anti-cruising bylaw in Dunedin.
"We just don't have the problem that they do up there."
While there was no certainty the cruise would stick to the designated route, or even go ahead as planned, Dunedin police would have extra patrols available.
"We are not going to stop them, unfortunately, but if they come to our town they have to behave."
