BOY racers are back using city centre streets as a ‘public race track’ according to residents, after a late night traffic ban was said to have eradicated the problem.

Home owners say the weekend revving engines racket is “excruciating” and believe it could lead to a pedestrian fatality, claiming the drivers are flouting speed restrictions and driving dangerously.

One man who lives on St Vincent Street said he had witnessed at least one ‘narrow miss.’

However the complaints mainly centre on the noise of the vehicles from modified exhausts.

The racing is said to start at 9pm on Friday, Saturday and sometimes Sunday nights, continuing until 2am.

Police Scotland said it was ‘very aware’ of the issue and has a number of initiatives in place including additional patrols but stressed resources were competing with other city centre demands.

Residents have described the police response as “inadequate” questioning why the drivers are not being charged for speeding or breach of the peace. There has been no arrests.

A police source said vehicle modifications are a 'matter for the DVLA.'

In 2017 Police Scotland put in place a late night traffic order banning cars from certain streets following repeated complaints from hotels, residents and other businesses about the ‘toon ring’ circuit, running from Pitt Street to Queen Street.

Read more: Glasgow boy racers: 'Toon Cruising' banned from city centre streets 

The traffic order affected a number of streets between 11pm and 4 am including West George Street, west of Pitt Street, Parts of Holland Street, Pit Street Douglas Street and West Regent Street.

Before the order was in place around 100 complaints a month were commonplace. Police said the complaints dropped to single figures.

However residents say the problem has returned after the drivers are said to have gone elsewhere, including the area near the Riverside Museum for a time.

City centre hotels including the Blythswood, Malmaison, Dakota and Novohotel have previously met with police following complaints about noise from guests.

Glasgow Times:

While the Blythswood did not comment directly on whether complaints had been made by guests, a spokeswoman said the hotel was cooperating with police.

Kevin Wallace, who lives at 219 St Vincent Street, said: “Last weekend four police officers came out, spoke to them and then left.

“We are looking straight onto Blythswood Street. The noise is so bad, the police couldn’t hear my wife on the phone.

“They are doing 40/50 and 60 in 20mph zones and the noise is excruciating.

“The police response has been really poor. We are just waiting for a fatality - we have watched them just miss a pedestrian.”

Kevin’s wife Pauline believe’s the police could take firmer action.

She said: “I understand that it’s illegal to modify the exhaust system to make a vehicle noisier after it has been ‘type approved’ and that the police can also take action if a vehicle’s silencer doesn’t work in the way it was designed or if a car is being driven in a way that creates too much noise.

“I can guarantee that most of these cars have been modified and they are being driven to create as much noise as possible.

“These people are also disturbing the peace, which I believe is a criminal offence.

“While police may not receive as many calls the issue continues, there are a number of people in the building I live in that have simply stopped calling.”

Read more: Brakes put on Glasgow's boy racers 

Local councillor Philip Braat, has pledged to meet with Police Scotland and the council to discuss new strategies to tackle the problem.

He said: "The experimental traffic regulation order seemed to work for a while, and the boy racers disappeared to the area around the Riverside Museum, far enough away from residential areas.

“It is disappointing that the problem has returned to the city centre.

“It is unacceptable to use city centre streets, or any residential area for that matter, as a public race track.”

Another resident, who lives near Blythswood Street, said: “The principal modification to these cars is that they have large exhausts and are extremely loud.

“From around 10 o’clock in the evening, often until the early hours of the morning these individuals proceed to rev their engines to incredibly high levels, whilst parked up and quite often with the bonnets up simply to make as much noise as possible.

“The noise levels are phenomenal and completely dominate the neighbourhood; as you can imagine this is hugely intrusive to those of us who live hereabouts.

“I feel that urgent action must be taken to stop this to give us some peace back and avoid one of them suffering harm.”

Inspector Ross Kelly of Glasgow City Centre said: “We are very much aware of the issue in this area of the City Centre and have a plan of action in place to pro-actively tackle it.

“We have organised a number of local initiatives to deter it, in line with competing demands on our resources across the city and the wider Greater Glasgow Division.

SNP councillor Angus Millar said he had already been in touch with police and said: "Glasgow’s streets are not their playground and the anti-social noise they can cause is unacceptable."

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “We haven’t received any recent complaints from the area on this issue.

“But we routinely liaise with the police on a range of road safety issues, including anti-social driving in communities, and look to take action where appropriate.”