RESIDENTS are campaigning to bring a stop to boy-racers terrorising their city neighbourhood and making their lives a “misery”.

Warndon Villages resident Andy Graham started an online petition at the weekend, which has already reached more than 100 signatures, and he has plans to present it to the police and Tesco.

The Mill Wood Drive superstore’s car park is often used by the racers to meet in the early hours of the morning, before they perform circuits around nearby roads, according to Mr Graham.

The 57-year-old has lived in the area for five years and said the issue has always been present but is getting worse – making the neighbourhood “potentially unsafe for us all”.

“We demand that steps are taken now by the police and others with the power to do so to address this issue which will inevitably, if left unresolved, lead to serious injury or even a fatality," said Mr Graham.

The petition came about after numerous attempts by residents to persuade local authorities to act on the problem “but nothing gets done”, Mr Graham added.

He said many “souped-up” cars and bikes take part in the meetings, which take place throughout the week, and he believes the drivers are from outside the area.

“I often get woken up about midnight or one o’clock, as they’re doing circuits. When you get woken up, it’s hard to get back to sleep and by the time you get to work the next day, you’re absolutely shattered.

“At the bare minimum, it’s keeping people awake at night but residents on the main strips used aren’t safe to go outside at a certain hour as somebody could come speeding around a corner at any second.

“We haven’t had an accident yet, but by the law of averages we will do. It might be one of the drivers and we don’t wish for that to happen.”

Mr Graham, who lives on the junction between Mill Wood Drive and Plantation Drive, said in recent days neighbours have seen cars travelling at speeds of 60 or 70mph on the residential roads in the early hours.

“The idea behind the petition is to show the police and Tesco, we are the community that is effected, and they have the ability to do something about it,” he added.

The issue was raised at a meeting of Warndon Parish Council on Monday (January 7).

Speaking to the Worcester News on Tuesday (January 8), Cllr Andrew Cross, of Warndon Parish Council, said: “The issue of noisy vehicles speeding around the parish has been going on for a while but appears to have worsened in recent months.

“Certainly, a lot of parish residents have recently expressed their anger about this.

“The issue was discussed at last night's parish council meeting and as a result of those discussions, the parish council will very soon be meeting with the local policing team to explore options to help resolve this.”

A Tesco spokesman said: “We encourage all visitors to our stores to use our car parks responsibly and will take appropriate action in instances of anti-social behaviour.

“We are keen to work in partnership with local police to address resident’s concerns.”

The spokesman added that the Warndon superstore’s car park has speed bumps installed at entrances and exits to encourage safe driving. 

The store closes at midnight during the week but motorists can still gain access to the car park.

Warndon Parish Council and West Mercia Police were unavailable for comment.