People living in Martlesham Heath and surrounding areas have been ‘severely impacted’ throughout the summer by the antisocial behaviour of young drivers meeting up in large gatherings.

Ipswich Star: Meets of up to 60 drivers have been spotted gathering at the Martlesham Retail Park. Picture: CHARLOTTE BONDMeets of up to 60 drivers have been spotted gathering at the Martlesham Retail Park. Picture: CHARLOTTE BOND (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Ros Jones, member of the Martlesham Parish Council and founder of the Martlesham Traffic Watch group, is campaigning for residents to report incidents after a spending the summer suffering from loud disturbances.

Ms Jones lives in Old Martlesham and claims large groups of ‘boy racers’ are using the Martlesham Retail Park and surrounding areas to meet up and perform tricks. She also claims racing is taking place on the nearby A12.

“The presence of these drivers has had a severe impact on many residents,” Ms Jones said. “It is constant noise with their exhausts popping and roaring and the racing is just dangerous for everyone.

“They are making our lives a misery and they don’t seem to care at all – it is undermining our quality of life.”

One such meeting, which police were called to, took place in the carpark by Next and had attracted a total of around 60 cars.

Warning letters were sent out by police to the offenders after registration details had been taken down, and Ms Jones is encouraging all residents to report drivers and their registrations if they witness any antisocial behaviour.

The meet-ups with large numbers of drivers are reportedly arranged in the evenings from around 7pm onwards and can last late in to the night.

The Suffolk Constabulary Safer Neighbourhood Team has been aware of the issues and according to them the drivers are often aged between 20 and 25.

Ms Jones thinks the prevalence of these drivers has increased this year and fears there is nothing that can be done unless residents report them directly to the police.

She added: “It feels like they don’t care about us because they must realise what a disturbance they’re causing with the engines popping and crackling with their modifications.

“I took a young child out on a pony down a country lane the other day and just five minutes later a car sped past without stopping.

“If that had been five minutes earlier there would have been a terrible accident.

“This is a big, big problem for the people who live around here.”