Families living on a road they believe is being used as a racetrack by reckless boy racers are calling for action before someone is seriously hurt.

People living in Gunners Grove and Heathcote Grove in Chingford say there regluar crashes and near misses on the roads, which are also used as a rat run during the day.

But despite a number of cars into trees and gardens, they claim Waltham Forest Council has said it cannot do anything until; someone is killed.

A car crashed into a tree outside Lisa Slaughter's home on the corner of Gunners Grove.

The 43-year-old mother-of-one fears for the safety of her two-year-old son, Ellis.

She said: "It doesn’t bear thinking what could have happened if he was there.

"It’s just luck that no-one’s been hit yet. It’s scary how often cars come off the road and into someone’s garden or onto the pavement.

"The house opposite us, a car smashed into their back garden a while back. It’s outrageous, something needs to be done."

Neighbour Linda Williams, 49, often looks after her young nieces and nephews, and thinks the roads are part of a circuit used by boy racers, which also includes Larkshall and Endlebury Roads.

She said: "There were two cars racing and one went into a house here. Just a month before that a car went into a tree outside our home.

"It had bars inside the car like a rally car. It’s like a rally race course outside our homes, it’s ridiculous. The police have been out here so many times.

The area is a busy school route for parents and pupils walking to Larkswood Primary School in New Road and others visiting Chingford Mount Cemetery.

Households want safety measures such as speed bumps or barriers to prevent cars coming off the road.

They spoke to Chingford MP Iain Duncan Smith about the problem.

He said: "It is very clear to me that this is a very dangeorus corner. I have written to Keith Hanshaw at the council to ask for some traffic calming measures to be introduced - whether they be sleeping policemen or speed cameras.W"

Crash statistics were not made avaialble at the time of going to press.

A council spokesman said: "The council recently implemented a traffic improvement scheme in the Hatch Lane and Longshaw Road area, which has successfully reduced vehicle speeds near to a primary school and the local shopping centre.

"Transport for London funding has been successfully secured for the investigation, design, consultation, and the potential implementation of road safety improvements along Larkswood Road and in the Heathcote Grove area."