Evening Standard/London

People yesterday demanded police clampdown on petrolheads who have turned their suburban street into a “drag race strip”.
People living on the Great Cambridge Road in Enfield, north London, say their Sunday nights are being ruined by boy and girl racers tearing up and down the stretch of dual carriageway until the early hours of Monday morning.
They are calling on the Met to take tough action on the motor enthusiasts, warning it is only a matter of time before a serious accident.
The Standard last night visited the spot used by the revheads to hold their weekly meetings.
By 10.30pm hundreds of young men and women and dozens of modified vehicles had filled the roads in and around a retail park off the A10 north of Southbury Road.
As exhaust fumes and the sound of revving engines filled the air, young men on motorbikes showed off to their friends by pulling wheelies at break-neck speeds.
However, when questioned by the Standard one motor enthusiast denied the gathering had anything to do with racing.
The man, who said his name was Jack, said: “No one is going to tell you ‘yeah we’re racing and have this car and this power.’
“We don’t race. It’s a Sunday night meeting. Everyone just comes and chills and has a coffee and a chat. People used to race but not any more.”
Another man who gave his name as Bob, added: “We don’t really condone racing. You do get some t**** who come and try to show off but they’re just ruining it for be rest of us.”
However minutes later The Standard witnessed several vehicles with what sounded like modified engines speeding down the dual carriage way.
Our reporter also saw a white Honda Civic being seized by police as around a dozen youths surrounded the car.
Retired machinist Andrew Chris’s bedroom overlooks the traffic lights that he said each week becomes the makeshift starting line.
He said: “It’s terrible. They drive up and down that road like idiots. I try to sleep but you would think there was a Concorde running up the road.
“Sometimes there’s five or six cars racing up and down.”
Carer Shaziye Mehmet added: “I feel like they are driving into my bedroom. It’s terrible.
“I’m scared they are going to die. Sooner or later they are going to kill someone or they will kill themselves.”
Local councillor Nick Dines is calling on the Met to clampdown on the problem.
He said: “It is clear it is getting worse. Some people have had to move bedrooms to to sleep at the back of the house and everyone is worried that one day someone will lose control, kill themselves and others who might be in the area.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers had been called to the scene following reports of people driving at speed. A check on the Honda revealed the driver was not insured. No arrests were made.
Last year Enfield Police and the Met’s traffic unit promised to clamp down thrill seekers racing down the A10.
However Chris said traffic officers had to do more to end residents’ misery.
“I spoke to neighbours and they phoned the police a few times but they don’t seem to be interested,” he said.
“If the police actually patrolled at these times they can’t miss them.”