BOY racers in super-charged cars are turning a Chester village into a racetrack.

Sealand has been targeted by a gang of young male drivers racing each other through the back streets.

One car has already ended up in someone's front garden after the driver lost control.

The racers drive standard road cars, hatchbacks and saloons, but they customise the vehicles, increasing the engine power and fitting spoilers and new exhaust pipes.

Car customising is a popular hobby among young men, with hundreds of enthusiasts regularly meeting peacefully in what are called 'cruises' in car parks after dark to show off their cars.

But a minority, who are believed to be local to Deeside, have begun to race their cars around the back streets, posing a real threat to the public.

'I was on patrol on Friday night and we encountered a lot of these boy racers,' said Shotton community beat manager PC Hazel Goss.

'When we saw them they were stationary and as they were also fully taxed, insured and MOT'd there wasn't much we could do apart from warn them that there had been complaints about noise.

'There are gatherings of lads with these cars in the area but they are usually lawabiding and cause no trouble.

'Residents can now help us to weed out the bad ones. We have the power to seize vehicles on the spot if necessary but we can also take strong action based on statements by residents that identify individuals and cars.

'If people take note of what is going on and then make a statement, we can take real action to make the streets safer.'

Sealand councillor Chris Jones said it was causing major problems.

'It isn't just the noise, it's the speed,' she said. 'People are scared of being knocked over, especially here where there are a lot of older people.

'They use the back streets like a racetrack, speeding as if nothing could jump out in front of them.

'They even challenge each other to races, which increases the danger.'

This week the racing could have ended in tragedy as a car ended up in the garden of a house in Sandy Lane in Sealand.

'It ended up in the garden next to mine,' said Peter Jones. 'We always have the young lads gunning up the road making their engines scream but I really hope this is a one-off.'

This week a prominent member of the local cruising scene said most cruisers support the police.

'We seriously discourage people from racing and speeding,' said Riki Doyle, of Cruisewirral.com, an online community which organises cruises in Merseyside and Flintshire.

'Cruising is about showing off your car, making it look better or more unusual than one from the showroom.

'These cars are intended either to impress mates or to enter national competitions for car customising.

We do soup the engines up so they make a more satisfying noise.

'The by-product of this work is often extra speed but we are conscious of the need to ensure people understand the risks and we never take part in illegal racing of any kind.

'If we want to race, we organise a track day at a local circuit and do it properly so everyone is insured and no laws are broken. The police regularly come to our gatherings and we have a good relationship with them.

'We have all seen the tragic effect of excessive speeding, and it is something we actively discourage.

'People who race through the streets are idiots who endanger their own lives and those of the public.

'They also give cruising a bad name and we support any efforts by the police to stop them.'