Dundee residents fear someone is going to be killed at the hands of drivers racing on the Kingsway and surrounding roads.
‘Boy racers’ are meeting at Camperdown, revving engines and making the area sound like a ‘war zone’ before tearing off on to the surrounding roads, according to people living nearby.
Householders are now demanding that action is taken before someone is killed.
Police have confirmed they are aware of the problem and will be putting extra patrols in the area.
Residents reported issue 15 times
The problems are centred round the Cineworld and Ice Arena car park, at Camperdown Leisure Park.
One local resident, who asked not to be named, said he had contacted the police on at least 15 occasions in recent weeks.
The man said: “For a number of weeks now, the residents of the area where I live in Ettrick Crescent and the surrounding areas have had to suffer with what’s happening in the car park.
“Every single night gangs of youths in sports cars turn up at this car park and spend hours doing wheel spins, handbrake turns, revving their engines unreasonably loudly – one car’s exhaust sounds like a machine gun.”
War zone
“It’s no exaggeration to say that the noise coming from this area sounds like a war zone,” he added.
“The noise was so extreme that one night this week I went over to see how many cars this involved and was staggered to see that it was at least 10 to 15 sports cars.
“It seems that this car park is getting a bit of a reputation around the Dundee area as a assembling point for sports cars, modified to be as noisy as possible.”
He also said the believes that local roads are being used by the same youths as a ‘drag strip.’
He said: “I can hear the traffic on the Kingsway from my back window, and every night I hear cars screaming up that stretch of road at way over the speed limit of 50mph.
“I strongly suspect that they are racing along Coupar Angus Road, then up along the Kingsway and back to the Cineworld car park, using the dual carriageway between Myrekirk and the flyover at Camperdown as a drag strip.
“Since Camperdown Leisure Park was opened the area has got much busier, and I honestly feel its only a matter of time before someone is killed by these people, or a massive accident occurs. ”
Speed cameras
He said local residents are now calling for speed cameras to be installed.
Charlie Malone, Labour councillor for the area, said he has been contacted about the anti-social behaviour.
“I have been contacted by residents who have valid concerns,” he said.
“They are extremely worried about both the anti-social behaviour emanating from the car park, where groups are gathering in mainly sport cars for drag racing, and for the safety of car users on the Kingsway.
“Residents have complained about the noise, and speed at which drivers leave the car park to race onto the Kingsway looping back towards Birkhill and then back down to the Kingsway at high speeds.
“The problem has been reported on numerous occasions and residents are fed up reporting that at times this happens beyond 1 am.
“I will be writing to the police and the property developer to action a resolution to what is very dangerous anti-social behaviour.”
A spokeswoman for Cineworld confirmed staff were aware this was happening and were trying to deal with the problem.
Police patrols
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “We are aware of disturbances and anti-social use of cars in the area of Camperdown and Dayton Drive in Dundee.
“We will be patrolling these areas and other areas to identify and detect those who use these vehicles illegally or in an anti-social manner.
“I would ask for the continued support of the public, by calling us with descriptions of vehicles, this information is valuable to us. ”
Information can be reported to police by calling 101 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.