Residents on Brighton estate terrorised by antisocial behaviour

Home Farm Road, Brighton, has become an unexpected hotspot for drag racing causing significant distress to the residents of the nearby Bates Estate.

The residents have described how the usually quiet road transforms at the weekend into a drag strip with up to 80 cars at a time arriving from outside Brighton.

The influx of racers brings with it shouting, revving engines and the pungent smell of cannabis.

Those living close to the road say they are left sleepless and frustrated and have urged Sussex Police to do more.

Home Farm Road, Brighton (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

One woman, aged 47, who did not want to give her full name, said: “It happens every night, near enough.

“When you are trying to watch telly it is all you can hear. You have your TV on low because you’re thinking of your neighbours but then all you hear is them. It’s boom, boom, boom.

“You can’t leave the windows open because it is too noisy. We’ve got double glazing and we can still hear them.

“It’s gone too far. I know a couple of people have gone up there and had words with them.

“It’s late at night, on Sunday nights, they don’t finish until half twelve, one o’clock.”

Read more: Teenagers terrorise city centre with vicious assaults and relentless shoplifting

Another resident who also did not want to give his name, said: “If I had a gun I would shoot the hell out of those engines. They are young drivers who have just passed their tests, spending every penny on their car and they just rev it again and again. If it was up to me I would dig the road up.”

Elaine Colley, who has lived on the estate for 22 years, described the situation as a “pain in the a**e.

Residents are frustrated and sleepless (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

“Why aren’t the police doing anything? Seeing as I pay my taxes they should get rid of them,” she said.

Aaron Murray has lived on the estate since February.

He has children aged between 5 and 11 and is expecting a baby girl with his partner in a matter of days.

“I can be in bed from about 11pm and then they are just going up and down the road revving their engine as loud as they possibly can,” said the 36-year-old.

“It can go on until about three/four in the morning.

“My partner is heavily pregnant and I have kids who are woken up by it.”

Fellow resident Michael said: “It’s miserable for our community. The noise is relentless and keeps the kids up all night. My friend has a young son with autism who cannot cope. The noise is overwhelming. We need the police to act on this.”

Residents have had enough and are calling for action (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

Labour candidate for Brighton Pavilion Tom Gray flagged the issue and is calling for action alongside Labour councillors.

“The residents of Bates Estate deserve better than to have their community tormented by weekend drag racers,” he said.

“We need resources to be made available and firm action to be taken by the police to tackle this unacceptable anti-social behaviour.”

One company on the estate has recently installed CCTV cameras facing the street to deter the racers and enable residents to report car registration numbers. However, residents worry this may not be enough and are concerned about possible confrontations as tensions rise between racers and the community.

Labour councillors said they have been raising the issue with the police, who have “expressed sympathy but cite resource limitations for preventing concerted action against the events”.

Councillors, Mr Gray and residents are calling for “more robust measures” to address the problem and restore peace to the estate.

Chief Superintendent Rachel Carr said: “We understand the devastating impact anti-social behaviour can have on the lives of individuals, families and communities.

“Tackling anti-social behaviour is a team effort alongside our partners across the city. We work closely with a variety of agencies to highlight problem areas and put measures in place to address the root causes, bring perpetrators to justice and make Brighton and Hove even safer for all.

“That could be additional hi-visibility police patrols, or looking at solutions around public health, support for substance misusers or rough sleepers, street cleaning, extra street lighting, CCTV cameras and a variety of other measures aimed at the complex issues that impact our communities.

“Sussex Police has a dedicated operation to anti-social driving – Operation Downsway – targeted at anti-social road users specifically, and through increased visibility and patrols.

“The public are our eyes and ears. By reporting incidents and concerns, we can build up a more accurate community profile and focus our resources accordingly.

“Reports can be made directly to a patrolling officer on the street, online via the Sussex Police website, over the phone via 101 or, in an emergency, by calling 999.

“Report anti-social driving specifically here Operation Crackdown.”