Nuisance drivers disrupting lives of residents living beside Magherafelt car park

Nuisance drivers revving engines are disrupting the lives of anxious residents living close to a Magherafelt car park, it has been claimed.

On a nightly basis, vehicles have been congregating in the Union Road car park where the drivers continually rev their engines and perform 'donuts' until the early hours of the morning, according to locals living nearby.

Despite police being called on numerous occasions, the problem is continuing to cause major disruption.

One woman, whose daughter lives in the Rainey Street area, has described the anti-social driving as 'absolutely horrific'.

Speaking to the County Derry Post on Friday, just hours after police attended the council-owned car park, the woman said her daughter's mental health has been severely impacted by the issue.

“My daughter rang me last night at half past eleven crying down the phone about the noise in the car park,” said the woman, who preferred not to be named.

“She isn't getting any sleep at all as this goes on every night until at least 3am. She has to get up for work early in the morning so this is causing a lot of problems for her and her mental health is not good at the minute because of all this.”

The woman said residents in the area have suffered from the noise caused by boy racers for many years, however she says her daughter was not made aware of the issue before renting the property.

She said moving away from the area is not an option as her daughter recently signed a lease for one year.

“She has the place sitting to perfection, just how she wants it, and when she moved in she loved it, now she says she hates it,” she continued.

“The noise of these revving engines and screeching tyres goes on every single night of the week and to listen to that for hours on end is just horrific, an absolute disgrace. These drivers seem to have nothing else to do other than sit here all night.”

The woman said she has reached out to local elected representatives and the council however 'no-one seems interested'.

“The car park is council owned so they have the authority to do something. If they even put a barrier up after the bus depot closes to stop drivers entering the car park at night, it would solve the problem.

“I have been told that this is not a new problem and that it has been going on for many years and people have put in petitions to the council in the past calling for action to be taken.”

A spokesperson for Mid Ulster District Council said: “The Council is aware of this issue and as it is an open investigation have no further comment to make at this time.”