Crowds of street racers near Elland Road causing misery for residents

Residents who live near Elland Road have told of their misery after 'hundreds' of street racers flocked to Lowfields Road this weekend.
Still of the resident's video.Still of the resident's video.
Still of the resident's video.

A video taken on Sunday night shows crowds gathered round cars and residents have said they can hear screeching tyres and the backfire of exhaust pipes from miles away.

Still of the resident's video.Still of the resident's video.
Still of the resident's video.
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Stephen English, who lives on Highfields Close, said the racing had been going on for weeks, starting at 7pm and not finishing until well after midnight.

His wife, who did not wish to be named, said: "It is unbelievable - there’s hundreds and hundreds of people standing and watching.

"It’s just getting louder and louder, especially the 'bang bang bang' of the exhaust pipes. It sounds like fireworks.

"I have a baby grandson who is only a few weeks old, and it keeps him up. It’s disrupting the whole area and we are all talking about the issue and reporting it to police.

Still of the resident's video.Still of the resident's video.
Still of the resident's video.
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"It got so bad this weekend and I couldn't get through to the police on 101, so I ended up calling 999."

Another resident, Lisa Rickatson of Lynwood Crescent, said that the noise is particularly loud at her home on the top of a hill.

She said: “It’s just continual every weekend, cars racing up and down. It’s like a racing track.

"My husband works in the navy and has to travel 350 miles to work early in the morning. He goes to bed at 8pm but can’t sleep because of all the noise.

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"It was bad last night, the cars exhaust pipes and screeching tyres are so loud. I avoid the area when I can hear it as it makes me feel unsafe."

A resident who lives on Dragon Drive, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that animals in houses in the area become very distressed at the noise.

She said: "I just can’t understand why it’s being allowed to continue.

"People who are saying we should just put up with it - that’s because they don’t live here. It’s so quiet around here so the sound carries, the noise is just awful.

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"I’m all for people enjoying themselves, but it's not just once in a blue moon, it's every single weekend until about 2 o’clock at night.

"The cars are all modified and the noise they make is just unbelievable."

West Yorkshire Police said they were aware of the noise complaints in the area.

In a statement, a spokesperson said: “Dangerous driving and the anti-social use of motor vehicles is unacceptable and we will be reviewing the circumstances surrounding this event.

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“Behaviour like this puts people’s safety at risk and causes understandable concern in the local community and to law-abiding road users and cannot and will not be tolerated.

“People who act like this should be warned that we will continue to make full use of the available legislation, including seizing vehicles and notifying insurance companies, to tackle any issues as appropriate."

The police ask anyone with information about the dangerous driving, or other offences linked to this event, to contact them via 101.