Competition for premium gang land could be driving a recent spree of ram-raids and arsons in Christchurch

This comes after a car drove through a Wainoni barbershop last night and set it on fire - the third incident of its kind in two weeks.

All the businesses are believed to have ties to a new gang in town - the Mongols MC.

Sociologist and gang expert Jarrod Gilbert says whereas the Tauranga chapter of the Mongols has a rivalry with the Mongrel Mob - the issue here is probably territory-based.

But he says there's another pressure point - with some members of the new chapter being former-members of another local gang.