Gatherings of up to 50 vehicles where there have been reports of dangerous driving at high speeds have been disturbing residents in the early hours.

The noise from engines as cars are driven at speed in Barge Way, which links Kemsley with Ridham Dock, near Sittingbourne, has been keeping people awake.

Police have tweeted about a number of incidents regarding the dispersal of nuisance vehicles over the past month.

Cllr Roger Clark (Con) who represents Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow on Swale council, says he can hear them from where he lives in Iwade.

He added: "It's a situation I'm very aware of, and I've been reporting it for two to three years.

"Every Friday they start revving their engines, doing wheelies, riding in circles and screeching their tyres.

"They start at around 11pm to midnight and go on until about 3am – you can hear them all night."

Cllr Clark says that they drive around in circuits up to the A249 and back round to Iwade.

"Its unbelievable," he said. "I just want it to stop. No one should have to deal with this.

"They haven't yet but someone is going to get hurt and I don't want it to be on my watch."

Anti-social motorists were the target of a dispersal order enforced in Swale by police at the weekend.

Additional powers were granted to officers between Saturday October 8 and Sunday October 9 and covered areas in and around Barge Way in Kemsley and Sheppey Way, Iwade.

The area has recently seen an increase in the number of reports of nuisance vehicles with surrounding roads used to race on.

Over the weekend, officers regularly visited the locations, and at one point saw about 50 vehicles parked up on roundabouts and grass verges.

One driver was issued with a traffic offence report for driving without due care and attention and was also issued with a section 59 warning. This means if they receive another the vehicle will be seized.

The remaining vehicles were dispersed from the area later that evening without issue.

Sergeant Ryan Chase from the Swale Community Safety Unit said: "I am pleased to see our presence this weekend was a deterrent, but gatherings like these cause an unacceptable nuisance to residents.

"The noise, dangerous driving and high speeds have an upsetting impact on the community, causing harassment, alarm and distress. It poses a risk to other road users as well as the drivers and occupants of the vehicles themselves.

"We don’t underestimate the impact behaviour like this has on residents and I encourage anyone affected to report all incidents to us either by contacting us via our website or via 101. If a crime is in progress, dial 999."