Boy racers could lead to someone getting hurt - residents

Residents of a Suffolk town say anti-social driving is keeping them awake at night and they fear that "somebody is going to get hurt".

Eileen Edwards, 81, Gail Ratcliffe, 76, Ann Allen, 74, and Mike Cross, 67, live on the corner of the Thoroughfare and Lime Kiln Quay Road in Woodbridge.

They told the BBC that cars and motorbikes with loud engines "speed" on the road outside their homes and sit at the traffic lights revving their engines.

Suffolk Police said it was "aware of concerns" and that "this type of behaviour can have a significant impact on the local community, causing alarm and distress to residents, businesses and visitors".

Edwards said the biggest issue for her was "noisy motorbikes".

"They come down the road, revving up, they come past the window about 11 o'clock at night, you'll be in bed and be woken up," she said.

Ratcliffe said the problems had worsened over the past 18 months to two years and that residents had been "inundated with horrendous cars and motorbikes that speed far too much, somebody is going to get hurt".

"It's mostly motorbikes and mopeds, with the occasional souped-up car," said Cross.

He said many of them had loud exhausts and despite some police action "they're coming back again".

Allen said as well as issues with noise, she was concerned about pedestrian safety.

"They do tend to just go through the red lights, people start to cross when they see the green light and the next moment you'll have a car shooting around the corner," she said.

The Labour Suffolk Coastal MP, Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, carried out a survey in the town on the topic of anti-social driving.

It had 234 responses. According to the latest Census data, Woodbridge has a population of 10,835.

The most common complaints were excessive engine noise, speeding, vehicles doing laps of the town and late-night disturbances.

Riddell-Carpenter said: "The response to my survey has been clear. Anti-social driving is having a real and detrimental impact on people's lives in Woodbridge.

"This is about more than just noisy cars. This is about persistent anti-social behaviour that is threatening pedestrian safety with reckless speeding and dangerous driving. It deserves a serious response."

Ruth Leach, the Liberal Democrat county councillor for the town, said she had been working on the "problem for the last year".

She said the "worst problem was young people on scooters, revving up, and circling the Shire Hall at night, waking up residents and using the town centre as a racetrack".

Leach said the town had seen a "number of police action days which have been really productive" and that new police powers to seize vehicles had been a "deterrent".

Section 59 of the Police Reform Act, which came into force in June, gives officers the ability to seize a vehicle they believe "is causing, or is likely to cause, alarm, distress or annoyance to members of the public".

Not everyone believes it is an issue in Woodbridge, including residents Julie and Jamie Cowie.

Julie said: "I've not really experienced anything in Woodbridge like that, certainly not in the central areas."

Jamie said he had lived there for 20 years.

"The youth of today get blame for a lot of things," he said, adding that while there may be isolated incidents "it's not a regular occurrence in my experience".

A Suffolk Police spokesperson said: "Officers from the East Community Policing Team and Roads Policing Team have been carrying out proactive patrols in the area and engaging with drivers to address the issue.

"We would continue to encourage members of the public to report incidents of anti-social driving and associated behaviour so that appropriate action can be taken."

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