GANGS of youths in cars and on scooters are keeping people awake at night with the ear-splitting sound of their engines, one resident claims.

Matthew Emms, 38, who lives just minutes from the Orbital Shopping Park, in which nightly meetings of joy riders routinely convene, has had enough and hopes something can be done to address the problem.

For the past few months things have been getting progressively worse, with the sound of revving engines keeping residents awake until well into the early hours.

Matthew, who has lived in the area for almost two years, said: “The sound travels over Thamesdown Drive and creates absolute bedlam. When you are trying to get your head down and get some sleep it’s very annoying.

“I can just about live with it happening at 7pm, but not going beyond that; when it goes on into the small hours it’s ridiculous. I get that kids need somewhere to go but there’s no need for them to rev their engines and create so much noise.”

One of Matthew’s main concerns is that the late sunsets of summertime will bring further bedlam to the area.

He said: “It is likely to get worse as the weather gets better. It can be hard enough to get to sleep when it’s hot, and if we have the windows open it’ll be even louder.

“I have made a lot of calls to 101, but I understand it’s something that’s quite hard to tackle. If we can get enough people together I am sure a solution can be found.”

Urging fellow residents to take action, Matthew said: “The police are only as good as the amount of calls they get. The bigger the log becomes, the more likely they are to take action.”

Orbital centre manager Jamie Turner said: “We have been made aware of the disruption being caused by a small group of teenagers using scooters near the centre.

“We have been in touch with Asda, who own the land, as well as the local police, who have confirmed that new measures will be installed to help prevent further disturbances.

The police have increased their patrols around the area and we take the security of our customers seriously.”