NOISY and intimidating behaviour by 'boy racers' is making lives a misery for elderly residents living in a sheltered housing complex in Tavistock.

Residents of St John's Court at Abbey Rise say they are being kept awake until the early hours of the morning and can no longer sit on their balconies because of the volume of the revving engines and anti-social behaviour in the Riverside Car Park next door.

Tony Newell, who has recently moved to St John's Court, said several complaints had been made to Tavistock police station but no action seemed to have been taken.

Letters have also been written to West Devon Borough Council, which owns the car park.

Mr Newell said:?'When I was the organiser of neighbourhood watch for East Devon, we had complaints like this in Exmouth and the police found a means of curtailing this behaviour by "taking their toys away from them" for several days.

'It is really annoying to all concerned, especially to those elderly persons living closest to the car park who have had to put up with this noise at its loudest.'

He said the rapid acceleration of cars, loud exhausts and screeching tyre noises had been going on for months.

Another resident in her 80s, who did not wished to be named for fear of reprisals, said many people who came to live at St John's Court were not very well, so the last thing they wanted was to be kept awake at night.

'One time there was 13 cars and a motorbike,' she said.

'The noise is horrific because they have these 'suped up' cars. You can hear it over the sound of the TV and if you are sitting out, they deliberately turn their radios up as they go past.

'It's not just the car noises.

'There are girls screaming and people urinating behind the recycling bins and they just throw their takeaway rubbish and bottles on the ground. It's disgusting.'

Neighbourhood Sergeant Dave Anning said the police had gone out of their way to find places for these young people to meet — but anti-social behaviour would not be tolerated.

'Young drivers will meet and show off their cars — it is the nature of young drivers and we have given them opportunities to do this, but behaviour like shining lights in people's windows and urinating in view of people is not acceptable.

'We had problems last year in the Bedford Car Park because these young people started acting irresponsibly and so they started meeting in the lower part of the Riverside Car Park and things have been OK until recently.'

Sgt Anning said there were local government bylaws regarding the misuse of car parks which could be enforced by the borough council and police had the powers to confiscate vehicles.

He said recent changes to police working patterns meant that there would be more night-time cover and extra patrols were taking place at the Riverside Car Park.

The borough council said as an immediate response it had increased its civil enforcement officer patrols in the vicinity of the car park.

'West Devon Borough Council will further discuss this matter with the Devon and Cornwall police at a community safety meeting on June 16. 

'Additional CCTV cameras will also be installed at the car park as soon as this can be arranged,' said a spokesperson.

'We will continue to closely monitor the situation, working in partnership with the police. Residents experiencing any issues relating to Riverside Car Park can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or West Devon Borough Council on 01822 813600.'