Residents living in the A6 Preston Road contacted the Chorley Guardian after being 'terrorised' by youths hurtling up and down the main road on scooters.

And reporters were able to catch the riders in action when they were overtaken by four of the youths when they went to investigate the problem.

guardian reporter Natalie Banks was surrounded by the scooters as she drove towards Clayton-le-Woods on the A6. One of the riders even undertook her car - meaning that she was completely surrounded on the 40mph road.

The Preston Road resident who contacted the Evening Post asked not to be named for fear of being targeted by the moped users.

He said: "I fear for the children and old people who have to run the gauntlet of Preston Road everyday, with scooter gangs zooming up and down.

"Being a resident living in Preston Road I do expect a high level of noise from the traffic but we constantly have to put up with the intrusion of having idiots riding up and down on scooters.

"They tear past my driveway and you can hear them screaming up and down. One rider even has a stereo attached to his bike which is just laughable really.

"Generally the scooters are in groups and I have seen them driving on the pavement. It is not an everyday occurence but it is a nuisance."

The resident, who is now thinking of moving out if the area because of the problems, added: "I am a lone voice and need to get backing from fellow residents if anything is to be done.

"I don't want to be a killjoy and I'm not even sure they are doing anything illegal but I just want some action to be taken before somebody os seriously hurt."

PC Mike Horton of Chorley's Road Policing Unit said his team are aware of the issue and are actively targeting the dangerous moped racers.

He said: "When you get young boys on bikes they tend to think they own the road and don't think speed is an issue until they come off.

"The groups of moped riders tend to use the A6 and the A49 through Chorley. They are more prevalent at the moment from a cost point of view, cheap insurance, and less fuel. The standards of driving vary and of course moped and motorbikes are at higher risk on the roads.

"We have launched Operation Cassandra - a summer initiative to target these moped riders and other motorcyclists.

"We do get problems with them racing and they were again prevalent over the bank holiday weekend. We are doing some high visibility work and also using a covert police vehicle to put a stop to it.

"A high proportion of our 'seriously injured and killed' accidents are motorcyclists so we also have to educate them."