Less than a mile from Buckingham Palace where houses fetch £3.3m, a menace is 'ruining lives'

People living in an exclusive part of London, barely a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace, are being visited by a nightly menace - which they say is making their lives a misery.

Most of the time, St James is one of the most exclusive postcodes in the UK. Last year, the average house price was more than £3,.3m.

But Every Sunday at around midnight, Waterloo Place becomes "dangerous". So-called boy racers descend in the middle of the night to rev their engines and do stunts.

Residents say petrolheads spend hours doing doughnuts, blasting their "souped-up engines", and creating noise "so loud it sounds like an explosion".

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Those living in the area say their lives have been made a misery - as they struggle to sleep and have been left stressed by the driving which they say is "an accident waiting to happen". Others, who have filmed the meets so they can report them to the police, have been "intimidated" by the organisers, they claim .

Residents say the drivers "know what they are doing is illegal" as they obscure their cars' number plates and often wear hoods and balaclavas. And now, locals are campaigning in the hopes of restoring funding to police road teams so something can be done before "someone gets seriously hurt".

Anne Mannion, who has lived in the West End for nearly 40 years, said: "I've lived in central London, by the theatre, by night clubs, by busy roads, for several years. I know noise. I'm used to it. You expect it - and you deal with it to have the privilege of living in these places."

"But this? This is a whole other level. It's absolutely unbelievable. When it first started happening, I thought there were explosions. That's what it sounds like. My bed shakes. It feels like an airplane is taking off. I mean - there are hundreds of supercars as well as cars which have had their engines 'souped-up'."

"It's just horrific. We have all types of people living in this building. Elderly people, families with children, professionals who have to get up early in the morning. It has to stop. It's driving people away. My daughter moved out because she just couldn't take it anymore."

Mrs Mannion, a media lawyer, said the car meet ups began during lockdown when no one was on the roads. Since then, they have continued nearly every weekend - including on Bank Holidays and even on Christmas Day.

"They have no respect for people's lives - or for their right to have a day off," Mrs Mannion said. "They also have no respect for the roads. They're driving dangerously - doing doughnuts and the like. And they're blocking off all traffic from Trafalgar Square - what about ambulances?"

"At one of the recent meets, they even set off fireworks."

Mrs Mannion used to head down from her home to film the car meets - sending footage over to the Met Police and Westminster Council. Then, drivers could be fined for dangerous driving - and for breaching a Public Space Protection Order which is in place in the area.

However, she has now been scared off doing so due to "intimidating" behaviour from the organisers. The mother, who is in her late 50s, said: "It's too dangerous for me to film them now as they recognise me. Aside from the cars being dangerous, the men approach me when I go down there.

"They ask me why I'm filming. They laugh at me. They've posted videos of me on TikTok. It's intimidating. I do feel in danger. But they know what they are doing is illegal. They cover up their number plates. They think they're being clever."

Sanzhar Abishev, another local resident, is also worried about the meets - which he says pose a danger to the community. The 31-year-old said: "They drive very recklessly. They do doughnuts at high speed. They do burnouts and their engines overheat. There is the danger of them exploding.

"They block entire lanes of traffic - so there's no way ambulances can get through. And they're out of control near hundreds of spectators. It's an accident waiting to happen. When police arrive, they flee by mounting pavements. One person got hit last time. It wasn't serious, luckily, but it could have been. Something has to be done before someone does get seriously hurt."

Mr Abishev, a local business owner, said the meets are "very well planned".

He said: "They're not done on a whim. They can happen every single weekend. They usually start late but sometimes start as early as 4 or 5pm - and can go on until past 2 or 3am. Before, the local police officers were incredibly helpful. They were throwing down spikes and blocking off the area. Drivers were being caught and having fines issued."

"Although a lot of drivers do remove their number plates - which is of course an offence in itself. Now, local residents and businesses are having to spend their time pitching in to help - forming their own neighbourhood watches and doing investigative work themselves."

"It needs to be stopped. Both for the residents - for whom this is hugely destructive and disruptive - and for London. "It isn't a good reflection of our capital if tourists see people driving dangerously."

Mrs Mannion added: "The police were incredible when they could help. We need them back so these racers can be shown that they can't do this anymore."

Earlier this month, four drivers were issued with fixed penalty notices after being caught on camera performing burnouts and revving their engines at one such late-night car meet. Some of the cars found guilty included a highly tuned BMW coupe and a Mercedes C63 AMG worth almost £100k, Westminster City Council (WCC) said.

The drivers were caught after they triggered acoustic noise cameras. Installed in 2021, the cameras are activated when they detect events over 80-90 decibels - which is as loud as standing next to a passing London Underground train.

The camera then uses AI to differentiate an engine's sound from a typical car horn by monitoring the sound patterns. Commenting on the car meets, Cllr Aicha Less, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children and Public Protection at Westminster City Council, said: "Driving like this is not only unwelcome in Westminster, but also incredibly dangerous."

"We often notice an increase of this behaviour during the summer, but we will continue to work throughout the year to deter this from happening. We have a zero-tolerance for antisocial driving, so I welcome the latest round of fines and hope by working with our partners we can identify others."

"If you are looking to meet up with cars like this, our streets are not the place for it."

The Met Police was also contacted for comment.