A MEMBER of a car meet up group which has been criticised for 'dangerous driving' has defended the 'boy racers'.

This follows our recent reports on drivers reportedly causing misery for residents of Warndon Villages by speeding down the A4440 late at night.

A frustrated resident said: “Almost every Sunday at around 10 o' clock they meet up at KFC and then treat Warndon Villages as their private race track.

"It can be heard by residents far and wide. I dread to think the speed they are going.”

After seeing the article, one of the members of the group got in touch to defend their actions.

This is what they had to say: “I am one of the said ‘boy racers’ and although I can’t speak for every other boy racer there I can definitely speak for my group which is anywhere from five to 15 cars depending on turnout.

“Firstly the reason we come in the late evening is because of the safety factor – there are a lot less cars and although it may not seem like it, safety is a concern we pride ourselves on.

“Our cars are our prized possession and the last thing we want is to crash and hurt someone. Although I don’t have stats on hand, I’m sure more average people crash or speed than boy racers, but because we have loud cars we're the only ones noticed.

“I’ve seen some really shocking and dangerous driving over the years and not once was there a boy racer behind the wheel.

“We go to the safest spot possible, the duel carriageway, that way we don’t swerve in and out of cars and we don’t give it welly if there are cars around because of the unpredictability of them, at least I know the boy racers won’t make a sudden lane change for seemingly no reason.

"I am sympathetic about the noise but if I chose to live near a main road I’d accept it. Most of us work full time, have a good education and it’s just a real passion and it’s all ages and sexes, not just boys.

“At the end of the day we haven’t got anywhere else to do anything like this and this is far better than doing it on residential areas. We try and be as safe as possible.”