Two boy racers who used their mothers’ cars to speed through Walsall at up to 90 miles an hour have both avoided a custodial sentence.

Charendip Deol and Permveer Singh were told they had been close to being locked up after appearing at Walsall Magistrates Court yesterday. Instead magistrates imposed a community order on the teenagers, which includes 300 hours of unpaid work.

Mr John Baker, prosecuting, said Singh was racing his mother’s Peugeot 206 and Deol his mother’s Vauxhall Corsa at around 2.25am on April 4. Police spotted them racing through Wolverhampton Street and then driving through red lights on Wolverhampton Road, which has a 40 mile per hour speed limit.

The men, both aged 19, had appeared at the court on a previous occasion where they pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.

Mr Baker said: “Officers spotted the two defendants racing and pursued them.

“Despite reaching speeds of up to 80 miles per hour the police car couldn’t catch them. Only at 90 miles per hour was the police car able to catch up.

“The two defendants carried out an undertaking manoeuvre on two other cars which forced one of the defendants off the road and causing him to nearly smash into railings.

“The other two cars had to brake sharply. It could have been a very nasty accident caused by reckless driving. They finally stopped their vehicles and were both arrested.”

Mr Suresh Joshi, defending, said the men had borrowed their mother’s cars, which were fully insured and taxed.

He said: “These two men are immature and realise they must now start taking responsibility for their actions and grow up. They realise they could have killed themselves and other people due to their actions.

“It has been a big wake up call for them both.”

As well as being told to complete 300 hours of unpaid work for the community Singh, from Riverbank Road, Willenhall and Deol, from Birchover Road, Reedswood, Walsall, were banned from driving for 12 months and told to pay court costs of £70 each.