BOY racers are battling each other to record speeds of up to 100mph in a 20mph zone, according to worried residents of a Blackburn estate.

Members of the Higher Croft Action Group have spoken out over their fears that someone “will be killed” in Manxman Road, following the installation of an interactive speed sign.

The sign flashes the speed of an approaching car and a message of ‘slow down’ is displayed if it is travelling over 20mph.

The speed limit on the road has recently been lowered from 30mph.

Pat Cocker, from the group, said: “The boy racers are trying to get to 100mph to make the sign blow up. It’s ridiculous, someone is going to get killed.

“It’s made worse when people double and triple park outside the nearby shops. People are edging out, and then you get cars flying past.”

A resident of Manxman Road, who asked not to be named, said: “They use this road as a rally track.

“I was coming out at the mini roundabout last night and God only knows how I didn’t get hit. Most people here are very worried about it.

“Perhaps it would be better if the sign just displayed a message or an unhappy face, rather than showing the speed.”

Another resident said: “They didn’t care when it was 30mph and they don’t care now.

“They see it flashing to slow down and it doesn’t make a bit of difference. You regularly will see cars travelling at 50mph. Some are faster.

“They forget that there are ginnels around here and that it only takes a child to step out, and there’s going to be a dreadful accident.”

Highercroft Councillor Andy Kay said council officers would be working with police to look at ways to enforce speeding and parking restrictions in the area.

He said: “The issues in Manxman Road are made more dangerous by the number of cars double parking at the higher end, near the shops.

“People need to be more considerate of other road users and pedestrians - but not all people realise that it is a 20mph zone.

“The concerns about the speed sign encouraging drivers to go fast have been brought to my attention, and other ways of dealing with the problem will be looked at.”

A police spokeswoman said officers were looking at removing the speed display from the sign and will enforce the new limit.

She said: “We would urge people to respect the new 20mph speed limit in place at Highercroft.

“Lancashire Constabulary are working together with the council to address concerns raised by residents to ensure compliance to speed limits.

“We can, and will, enforce in 20mph areas, but we would look at other tactics including education and engineering before carrying our enforcement activity.

“However, where other tactics such as the introduction of signage and neighbourhood policing activity doesn’t tackle concerns of speeding raised by residents, we will take necessary enforcement action.

“Figures show that the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads is at the lowest in 30 years but we are not complacent and we are dedicated to reducing this figure even further.”