A grandfather living near a "street racing" hotspot has said family members have been harassed and kept awake at night by speeding drivers.

Timothy Kingston spoke out about the long-running issue on Reginald Mitchell Way as residents were given an update on police action to crack down on boy racers, which includes issuing notices to seize cars and disperse people from areas where they are causing alarm or distress.

Chief Inspector Laura Davies told the public meeting in Goldenhill on Thursday: "We have had a rapid deployment crew working with the local authority. We have put Section 59 notices in the area and we have seized a number of vehicles"

Mr Kingston described the noise from the vehicles as "horrendous". He added: "When my granddaughter says with us she cannot sleep because of the noise.

"Vehicles have been up and down Reginald Mitchell Way racing and my daughter and granddaughter have been harassed by them. Vehicles have sped past, nearly charging cars out of the way because they're racing on both sides of the road.

A new road policing unit has been launched to tackle crime on the area's highway network (Staffordshire Police).

"It's just getting ridiculous. I'm sick and tired of having to call the police every night."

Staffordshire's Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Ben Adams, who also attended Thursday's meeting, said a new road policing unit had recently been launched to tackle crime on the area's highway network. He added: "They are catching them all over the city and county and we are seeing arrests."

Police were called out to reports of suspected street racing on Reginald Mitchell Way in late December. A force spokeswoman said: "Officers carried out a search and did not find anyone committing any offences.

"The local police team are aware of the location and continue to carry out targeted patrols in order to reassure the public and tackle vehicle related anti-social behaviour. As part of our work to pro-actively address these issues, we have handed out a number of section 59 notices to seize vehicles being used to cause alarm and distress, utilised our road crime team (RCT) to carry out ANPR checks and disperse any car cruisers."

Almost 200 people have signed a petition calling for safety measures such as speed cameras to be installed on the road between the A500 and Sandyford. The campaign was backed by local councillor Chandra Kanneganti.

Speaking last year he said: "Since 2021, Reginald Mitchell Way has become a very dangerous race track. These reckless drivers come and meet up, with spectators, and do donuts and race.

"A number of my residents are struggling with this, not just with the noise, but sometimes they cannot get out of their estate. It's just an accident waiting to happen -it's creating an extreme risk."

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READ MORE: Council planning to dim street lights in Stoke-on-Trent to save £100k a year

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