POLICE have handed out 48 warnings to boy racers risking lives by flouting the law.

Speeding cruisers were captured on dashcam footage driving at more than 100mph on Roscommon Way, Canvey, last week. The ongoing problem peaks every year during the summer months.

After the Echo revealed families had taken to sleeping in their attic and others were planning to move away from the area, roads policing officers launched patrols to catch boy racers in action.

Across two days of patrols, last Sunday and Monday, police handed out 48 warning letters and information packs - which warn of the consequences of speeding. They also issued one defect rectification notice and reported one person for careless driving. One person was also handed a ticket for a loud exhaust.

Sgt Mark McQuade, from the Castle Point and Rochford community policing team, admitted it is difficult to track down evidence to make arrests. It comes after Met Police detective Billy Baxter, 27, was told the force in Essex is too stretched to deal with complaints about cruisers.

Mr McQuade said: “We are giving spectators a packet about the dangers of dangerous driving, including newspaper clippings about people who have been seriously injured or lost their lives.

“It covers all types of racing.

“We are giving them to people who are with vehicles that are hot and we feel that they have been involved in racing and to any people that are congregating.

“We want to catch as many people as possible but without the evidence, it’s really difficult to do anything other than to engage with them on a level that they understand.”

Mr McQuade added that two cars failed to stop for officers. They are making enquiries to track the drivers down.

In 2014, CCTV cameras were installed to prevent the high-speed cruises from taking place after dark - but the racing continues.

A group of about six boy racers are said to speed up and down the road from 8pm.

It comes after a car smashed into a lamppost in Roscommon Way in the early hours of the morning last month. A 22-year-old man suffered a fractured ankle after the green Lexus lost control at the roundabout and crashed against the roadside.

A spokesman for Essex Police, said: “We are aware of recurring issues around antisocial driving on Roscommon Way. This issue has been ongoing for a number of years.

“Residents concerned about noise nuisance should report this to their local council and anyone with information about specific vehicles that are seen to be driven dangerously are asked to call 101.”