AROUND 40 boy racers have been hit with penalty fines and points following a huge car meet at Lakeside on Saturday night.

The action, dubbed Operation Wagtail by cops, is in response to complaints by residents fed-up with suped up cars meeting at Lakeside Retail Park and the surrounding area.

Saturday night’s event was advertised on Facebook by Essex Cruisers, under the heading Lakeside Lockdown 2013, and attracted convoys of cars from as afield far as Hertfordshire and Harlow.

Sgt Simon Willsher, from Essex Police’s Casualty Reduction Service, said: “While the majority of people were law abiding car enthusiasts, there was an element who were driving illegally or willing to race on public roads and put others at risk.

“We will never accept this and always look to prosecute where appropriate. Over the coming weeks, more than 60 people will find themselves in court for racing on roads around Lakeside at weekends.”

Among the offences recorded by officers, one person was fined £30 for tinted windows, two people were fined £30 for loud exhausts, five people were fined £60 for having cars in a dangerous condition, two people were fined £60 plus three points on their licence for using a mobile phone while driving and one person was fined £200 plus three points for no insurance.

Local councillor Charlie Key claims he was inundated with calls from residents over the weekend.

He said: “For the last six weeks or so it has been a living nightmare for residents living near to Lakeside.

“Saturday was particularly bad, I must have been contacted by between eight and ten different residents.

“Essex Police have been really proactive, but I really think we need to get to the bottom of the problem and stop them meeting there altogether.”

Cops were given powers to disperse boy-racers last year. The dispersal zone covers almost all west Thurrock, including Lakeside.

Philomena Cleavely, chairman of Chafford Hundred Community Forum, said: “These cars are a nuisance for local residents and so noisy.

"Residents call the police when they begin meeting there and we have been advised to write a report, but people just get fed up.

“Something needs to be done to stop them altogether.”