Herts police have said that they were unaware of the large scale gathering that was taking place when last night’s crash occurred in Stevenage.

The Comet: People watched as the horror unfolded. Picture: SWD Media/Adam FreedPeople watched as the horror unfolded. Picture: SWD Media/Adam Freed (Image: Archant)

An estimated 400 people were in attendance at the Cruise-Herts event, which was being held in the Roaring Meg South car park.

Speaking to the Comet, Chief Inspector Alicia Shaw described last night's incident in Monkswood Way as a "shocking event".

"Last night, we weren't aware of such a large gathering," she said.

"We were at the scene within minutes of the incident happening.

"This was a really large scale gathering that we were not aware of."

Herts police have also said that, as part of their investigation, they will be reviewing what the force can do to prevent anything like from this happening again.

Rix Sidhu, co-owner of modified car club Cruise-Herts, confirmed that the police were not in attendance at last night's event.

But Rix did say it was difficult to believe that the police would not be aware of weekly events that have been happening for years.

Last night's incident follows years of wrangling between residents and members of Cruise-Herts over the legality of the modified car club's weekly meet-ups.

Speaking to the Comet, Rix said it was hard to imagine that the modified car club could have done anything differently.

"We don't condone anti-social behaviour.

"But, when our backs are turned, people can act like that. It's just human nature."