FRESH efforts are to be made to persuade highways chiefs to take action to stamp out the menace of boy racers on Felixstowe seafront.Ideas have been put forward to make alterations to the main seafront road to cut speeds and deter irresponsible drivers from showing off in their cars.

FRESH efforts are to be made to persuade highways chiefs to take action to stamp out the menace of boy racers on Felixstowe seafront.

Ideas have been put forward to make alterations to the main seafront road to cut speeds and deter irresponsible drivers from showing off in their cars.

Residents have already met officials from Suffolk County Council once to discuss the situation and now town centre and seafront beat officer Pc Chris Dearing is trying to set up another meeting.

It is hoped the meeting will give fresh impetus to the bid for action – and spur council engineers to take a closer look at the problems.

He told Felixstowe Safety Committee that residents and traders were "at the end their tethers" over the problems and most favoured a lower speed limit.

"It is an accident waiting to happen – you cannot even cross the road there sometimes," he said.

Residents in Sea Road are bracing themselves for more problems this summer, the time of the year when car cruises to the seaside are most likely.

They say it is not just the light evenings though which brings the problems of cars roaring up and down the road, causing noise and danger, but the events are now happening during the afternoons as well.

Safety campaigners and residents are worried that a child could step off the pavement and be killed.

Families would like to see a 20mph speed limit in Sea Road and possible traffic calming humps and bumps to slow the drivers.

Police would support this and believe it would stop most of the speeding as many of the cars are the pride and joy of their owners, who would not want to see them damaged.

However, some schools of thought suggest that speed ramps would cause shorter bursts of speeding between the "sleeping policemen".

One radical idea which has been suggested is to turn part of the seafront into a no go zone for cars.

The West End of Felixstowe Residents' Association and Felixstowe Safety Committee are backing the proposal, which would see Sea Road between Manwick and Beach Station Roads, possibly as far as Tacon and Orford Roads, pedestrianised at weekends.

Barriers would be put up to create a car-free zone in what is the busiest part of the resort and which should make it safer and much more attractive for visitors to wander around the market, amusements, arcades and kiosks.