BOY racers have been wreaking havoc on a notorious stretch of road prompting a councillor to call for a purge on antisocial racing on the island.

Cars racing each other were out in force on both Friday and Saturday night along Roscommon Way, Canvey.

Residents were plagued by revving engines along the road, which has been plagued by boy racers for years.

The problems were reported to police on both Friday and Saturday night.

Ray Howard, Castle Point Councillor for Canvey Island West, has been battling the issue for a number of years, and insisted that police must crack down now before incidents return on a weekly basis.

He said: “I heard them myself over the weekend.

“When the council offices reopen after Christmas today, I will pursue the issue with the community safety team.

“I will be requesting a strategy that we can implement alongside the police.

“I will request a purge by the police, like they did before.

“We had a large operation, where police took number plates of so many vehicles, and wrote directly to the owners, and I believe they also contacted insurance companies with driver’s details.”

In August a number of drivers were reported for driving offences after 60 vehicles were seen congregating.

Concerned members of the public contacted the police after seeing the group in Morrison’s car park at Northwick Road, Canvey.

A number of the motorists began racing along Roscommon Way.

The community policing team attended and shortly after officers from the Roads Policing Unit arrived and managed to catch a number of offenders in the act.

After residents complained about racing throughout the summer, the problems seemed to have quietened down, until they reared their head again at the weekend.

Mr Howard added: “Being a bank holiday, I imagine they thought it would be a quiet weekend with fewer police so they could get away with it.

“But they ruining everyone else’s bank holiday.

“It has been quietening down a lot recently and we have had nowhere near as many issues as we were, but it is a shame it’s happening again.

“The police have been very helpful on this matter in the past, but it is hard for them, they cannot sit down at Roscommon Way every Friday night.”

Anyone with information about the racers can call Essex Police on 101 or Crimestoppers.