Boy racers are likely to keep using a notorious Harold Hill accident blackspot as a racetrack in spite of the council's efforts to stop them, claim local residents.

A raft of measures designed to stop motorists speeding along Whitchurch Road - including new road centre markings, skid resistance checks and the pruning of overgrown trees obscuring the street lights - were approved by councillors at the Harold Hill community area forum last week.

But the proposals have been denounced as totally inadequate by local people, who are convinced they will not stop the speeders.

Speaking at last week's forum meeting, resident Dave Ainsworth said: "The only thing to stop them is a speed hump. More than a few marks are needed to kerb the boy racers."

Traffic surveys have revealed that 15 per cent of motorists drive at speeds over 40 miles per hour on the 30 mph road, and 11 people have been involved in accidents during the past four years, well above the Havering average.

To tackle the problem of speeding traffic, hatched centre markings 1.2 metres apart will be installed, with red surfacing on Whitchurch Road between Tees Drive and Chudleigh Road.

The lane marking will be designed to create a visual effect making the road seem narrower than it actually is.

On top of the anti-speeding measures, parking bays at the Whitchurch Road shopping parade, which are currently at an angle to the kerb, will be parallel to it.

A council officer admitted to the forum that there would be some loss of spaces as a result, but that other parking was available nearby.

The parking changes are designed to resolve traffic conflicts caused when cars back out of their parking space onto oncoming traffic.

Another resident also argued that some buses finish their journeys at the same time on directly opposite sides of the street and the road would be too narrow for the cars to pass them as they unloaded.

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