HUNDREDS of boy racers returned to Canvey to keep residents awake into the early hours of the morning with their noisy engines and wheel spinning.

It was a loud and miserable night for islanders living in and around Northwick Road, Roscommon Way and Morrisons on Saturday, January 5.

Canvey councillor Ray Howard, was among the many residents kept awake “half the night”.

He said: “This just can’t go on, the amount of complaints I received about the noise was unbelievable.

“There’s been boy racers here in the past, but when you see the volume that turned up, there were hundreds of them.

“It was a frightening experience, they were devils they really were.

“Morrisons car park was full like it was open.”

Mr Howard said DVD footage was compiled on the night by a resident, which will be shown at a meeting of the Castle Point and Thames Gateway Regeneration Partnership on Friday.

Castle Point MP Rebecca Harris will also be showing it to Essex Police and Crime Commissioner Nick Alston when he joins her for a meeting at the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Mr Howard added: “Police were there, but they were outnumbered. They can’t fix it on their own, which is why I want to show the DVD at this meeting.”

An Essex Police spokesman said a number of phone calls were received on the night, but could not confirm exactly how many.

He said: “Police received calls during the evening on Saturday from residents on Canvey who were concerned about the noise from high performance cars in the Roscommon Way area.

“They were driving up and down, revving their engines, wheel spinning and making lots of noise.

“Officers attended and a number of drivers were spoken to and some were reported for motoring offences.

“Road policing officers are also examining CCTV footage taken at various locations and if we receive similar reports again, extra road policing patrols using marked and unmarked vehicles will be launched.”

Police are urging anyone who has photos, video footage or the registration numbers of offending vehicles to contact Canvey police station on 101.