Plea for bigger fines for luxury supercars 'as loud as jet planes' waking Kensington residents
Supercars captured by a Westminster City Council noise camera on Exhibition Roadperforming noisy 'donuts'.
Supercars as loud as jet planes are keeping people awake at night in one of London's most exclusive neighbourhoods.
A convoy was caught performing 'donuts' on South Kensington's Exhibition Road by a new type of traffic camera designed to stamp out the noisy problem.
Residents say they are tired of the noise made by "souped-up" rides being paraded through the pricy postcode, where celebrities mingle with tourists and Harrods shoppers.
Neighbouring Kensington and Chelsea Council has begun a crackdown but warns £100 fines are not steep enough to ward off drivers who can afford luxury cars.
The royal borough's cameras are equipped with microphones so they record the number plate and the noise of the revving cars described as being as loud as jets by irate locals.
Exasperated residents are tired of the 'souped-up bangers'. Watch ITV News London's full report:
The local authority has released the footage to ITV News London as it pleads for greater powers to slap noisy cars' drivers with fines.
Karen Morgan-Thomas and her daughter Alexandra have lived in Knightsbridge for 30 years and are often tormented by nocturnal boy racers in supercars.
The Knightsbridge Residents' Group chair said locals were tired of drivers parading their "souped-up bangers" at all hours.
Cars zoom past the camera and blast their exhausts in Holland Park Avenue
Ms Morgan-Thomas told ITV News London said the sounds of the supercars' exhausts sounded like gunfire at night.
"They can have it souped up so it goes ‘bang, bang, bang’. I think it’s called ‘popping.’ But it sounds more like rifle shooting, really."
Kensington and Chelsea Councillor Sof McVeigh said residents were being woken up at 3am by the sounds of car racing.
"Residents have said to me it’s like having an aeroplane taking off in your bedroom, or a helicopter taking off. The decibel levels are that extreme."
She added: "It has a huge impact on everyone’s lives during the day, but particularly during the evening where they used to race at 2 o'clock in the morning and that means you just don’t get your sleep."
RBKC has bought four acoustic cameras, costing £15,000 each, in a bid to catch the drivers out.
Noisy motorbikes are also adding to the noise pollution
But the local authority wants the government to allow bigger fines to target the noisiest drivers.
Cllr Johnny Thalassites said the cameras have helped the council net hundreds of fines, from thousands of complaints across the borough over recent years.
He claims the cameras are a strong deterrent, as the council has recorded no repeat offenders.
But the authority needed powers to slap drivers with steeper fines upwards of £400 to really tackle the noise problem, he said.
"We would find it really helpful - and I’m sure this would make a more practical solution for other places in the capital - if we are able to raise the fixed penalty notice tariffs from £100 to possibly even £400."
Yianni Charalambousi runs a workshop in Enfield, north London, where he customises supercars for their wealthy owners.
The car wrapping expert told ITV News London the owners were entitled to show off their rides - within reason.
"Cars nowadays come with sports exhausts. They are very, very loud. So if someone’s revving their car or if someone’s driving up and down like an idiot - granted.
“But if you’re just driving your car, and you're enjoying your car that you spent a lot of money on - you can’t stop someone from driving it because it’s [got] a loud exhaust.
Mr Charalambousi said Kensington attracted supercars as it was a notorious location for "car spotters" who like to film the action in a bid to earn YouTube income.
He said it was just part of the fabric of the area.
“People like the show, they like the flash, and that is London.
"It is very showy, it’s very flashy. It is Knightsbridge, it’s Chelsea - You see Lambos, Ferraris, Bentley, like they’re buses.”