FED up residents living in fear of 'boy racers' are putting together an action group to try to stop them speeding along a Hagley road.

Every Sunday night for the past 12 months, drivers of up to 50 performance cars have been using the A456 as a racetrack - sometimes driving at speeds of up to 100 mph.

At a Police and Communities Together (PACT) meeting last night (Thursday, September 25) at the Hagley Parish Council offices in Worcester Road, people living near the road called for new powers to tackle the problems themselves after they were told constant police presence wasn't possible and speed cameras could not be installed.

Pete Rowbottom suggested a Community Speed Watch be set up to stop people speeding and driving dangerously along the road before a fatal accident occurs.

Addressing West Mercia local police officer Tim Burling, Mr Rowbottom said: "What if we got a group of us together to go out and monitor the speeding ourselves? Like a Community Speed Watch.

"It would take maybe six of us getting together to monitor the road at certain times with a hand speed gun. Then we can collect the evidence and submit it to the police and the Safer Roads Partnership."

PC Burling said with a strain on police resources, residents would not get the kind of surveillance they want from the force, so if it was risk assessed properly, a speed watch could be a new deterrent for the speeding drivers.

The villagers are now asking for people interested in joining the group to get in touch. A plan of action will then be put together and taken to Hagley Parish Council before submitting it to the Safer Roads Partnership, the body which controls the Community Speed Watch initiative.

If the plans are successful, depending on a risk assessment to make sure it would not be dangerous for people to monitor speed along the problem area, equipment would be given to a member of the group and they would be supported in their information collection by the local policing team.

Anyone interested in signing up to take part in the group should email Pete Rowbottom on peterrowbottom66@yahoo.co.uk