JUST when we thought joyriding was a historic problem in Blackbird Leys it emerged police have seized 12 cars and arrested a teenager for dangerous driving.

In the 1990s the estate became infamous for young men stealing cars and parading them to onlookers in front of the shops, performing a variety of high-speed stunts.

The police launched a crackdown on joyriders and joined forces with the city and county councils to erect chicanes, anti-skid surfaces and speed bumps.

But, once again, it seems the scourge of joyriding has returned to Blackbird Leys.

A dozen vehicles have been confiscated and a 17-year-old arrested after a spate of haphazard driving around the estate.

The problem is the danger these drivers pose to families, elderly pensioners and young children. They are taking not just their own lives in their hands by driving badly in written-off cars, but everyone else’s too.

There are are subtle differences to the past. These young drivers- most unqualified and some estimated by police to be underage - are not displaying cars individually or burning them out – they are getting together to ride in insurance write-offs that can be bought for as little as £100, and driving them around the estate.

Blackbird Leys has done a lot to improve its reputation since the “bad old days”.

But this fresh anti-social behaviour by unqualified joyriders threatens to undo the good work of people both living on the estate and the city council.