BOY RACERS have been turning Pitsea flyover into a “racetrack”, hosting illegal car meets and making lives a “misery” for residents.

Furious residents have been kept up all night by the noise of cars racing at high-speed across the flyover.

Groups of car enthusiasts have been seen gathered at the meeting hotspot on Friday and Saturday nights.

A public nuisance order has been issued, but bosses have insisted it’s hard to get the problem under control if police are not in attendance to enforce action and disperse the groups.

Leader of the council, Andrew Baggott said: “It’s something that’s been a problem for about a decade.

“They gather at Pitsea flyover. It’s been making residents lives a misery.

“There’s some groups that go just show off their cars. Some of the others are like Fast and Furious. They speed up and down turning the road into a bit of a racetrack. It’s not only dangerous, it’s anti-social.

“It’s just a nuisance for residents. They’re being kept up all night with the noise.

“It’s anti-social, it’s wrong and it’s not appropriate to keep people up all night.

“One thing that was instigated was a public nuisance order. But if we haven’t got police to enforce it and disperse the groups it’s hard.

“We can’t keep having the same issues. We have to break through this cycle.”

Pitsea south east councillor, Luke Mackenzie, has put forward a motion for a public space protection order so repeat offenders can be fined.

He said: “I think this will be more of a deterrent. This has been going on since at least 2007 when I first joined the council but I think it’s been going on longer.

“This is an issue that comes up every year. Residents feel that nothing has been done. It’s been going on for far too long so I hope a PSPO would be some sort of deterrent.”

The PSPO is set to be discussed by the council in September.

Essex Police have confirmed they will be patrolling the area, enforcing a section 59 which allows officers to give drivers a warning if they’re trouble. If the driver is reported more than once in a year, police can confiscate the vehicle and the driver will be prosecuted.